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Physics World

Quantum consciousness put in doubt

Edwin Cartlidge

Published Nov 1, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An underground experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory casts doubt on Roger Penrose’s ideas on the role of coherent superpositions in the brain, as Edwin Cartlidge reports
DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/35/09/05

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The Diósi-Penrose model of Objective Reduction posits that the quantum superposition of a massive object becomes unstable and collapses due to gravitational self-energy, theoretically emitting random thermal radiation (x-rays) during the collapse. Recent high-sensitivity underground experiments, such as those conducted at Gran Sasso, have failed to detect this random radiation, casting doubt on the Penrose model. In this paper, we propose a new experimental protocol based on the Matrioska de Ouroboros Framework. We argue that objective reduction does not dissipate energy as random thermal noise, but rather as highly directional acoustic phonons (Explosive Acoustic Synchronization) channeled through a specific Modulo-9 topological geometry. We present the design of a Bipartite Nanomechanical Resonator specifically structured to capture and amplify this harmonic acoustic signature, providing a definitive laboratory test for gravitationally induced wave function collapse.
The article reviews our recent experimental results on the Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) model and on the gravity related collapse model developed by Diósi and Penrose (DP). These models of dynamical reduction of the wave function consist in non-linear and stochastic modifications of the Schröedinger equation, which lead to a progressive breakdown of the superposition principle, as the size of the system increases. We performed a high sensitivity survey of the spontaneous radiation phenomenon, predicted by the collapse models, in a dedicated experiment operated in the extremely low background of the Gran Sasso underground National Laboratory of INFN in Italy. Our studies set the strongest bounds on the CSL parameters, in a broad region of the parameters space, and rule out the DP in its present formulation.
Modern physics lays its foundations on the pillars of Quantum Mechanics (QM), which has been proven successful to describe the microscopic world of atoms and particles, leading to the construction of the Standard Model. Despite the big success, the old open questions at its very heart, such as the measurement problem and the wave function collapse, are still open. Various theories consider scenarios which could encompass a departure from the predictions of the standard QM, such as extra-dimensions or deformations of the Lorentz/Poincaré symmetries. At the Italian National Gran Sasso underground Laboratory LNGS, we search for evidence of new physics proceeding from models beyond standard QM, using radiation detectors. Collapse models addressing the foundations of QM, such as the gravity-related Diósi–Penrose (DP) and Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) models, predict the emission of spontaneous radiation, which allows experimental tests. Using a high-purity Germanium detector, we could exclude the natural parameterless version of the DP model and put strict bounds on the CSL one. In addition, forbidden atomic transitions could prove a possible violation of the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) in open and closed systems. The VIP-2 experiment is currently in operation, aiming at detecting PEP-violating signals in Copper with electrons; the VIP-3 experiment upgrade is foreseen to become operative in the next few years. We discuss the VIP-Lead experiment on closed systems, and the strong bounds it sets on classes of non-commutative quantum gravity theories, such as the θ–Poincaré theory.