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Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II

Can a rock be a wave? From 100 years of De-Broglie's wave-particle duality to quantum-gravity

R. Folman

Published Mar 13, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is almost exactly 100 years since De-Broglie made public his outrageous hypothesis regarding Wave-Particle Duality (WPD), where the latter plays a key role in interferometry. In parallel, the Stern-Gerlach (SG) effect, observed also a century ago, has become a paradigm of quantum mechanics. I will describe the realization of a half- and full-loop SG interferometer for single atoms, and show how WPD, or complementarity, manifests itself. I will then use the acquired understanding to show how this setup may be used to realize an interferometer for macroscopic objects doped with a single spin, namely, to show that even rocks may reveal themselves as waves. I emphasize decoherence channels which are unique to macroscopic objects such as those relating to phonons and rotation. These must be addressed in such a challenging experiment. The realization of such an experiment could open the door to a new era of fundamental probes, including the realization of previously inaccessible tests of the foundations of quantum theory and the interface of quantum mechanics and gravity, including the probing of exotic theories such as the Diosi-Penrose gravitationally induced collapse. Time permitting, and as an anecdote noting also De-Broglie's less popular assertion, namely, that the standard description of QM is lacking, I will also present our recent work on Bohmian mechanics, which is an extension of De-Broglie's ideas concerning the pilot wave.

DOI
10.1117/12.3012368

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It is almost exactly 100 years since De-Broglie made public his outrageous hypothesis regarding Wave-Particle Duality (WPD), where the latter plays a key role in interferometry. In parallel, the Stern-Gerlach (SG) effect, observed also a century ago, has become a paradigm of quantum mechanics. I will describe the realization of a half- and full-loop SG interferometer for single atoms, and show how WPD, or complementarity, manifests itself. I will then use the acquired understanding to show how this setup may be used to realize an interferometer for macroscopic objects doped with a single spin, namely, to show that even rocks may reveal themselves as waves. I emphasize decoherence channels which are unique to macroscopic objects such as those relating to phonons and rotation. These must be addressed in such a challenging experiment. The realization of such an experiment could open the door to a new era of fundamental probes, including the realization of previously inaccessible tests of the foundations of quantum theory and the interface of quantum mechanics and gravity, including the probing of exotic theories such as the Diosi-Penrose gravitationally induced collapse. Time permitting, and as an anecdote noting also De-Broglie's less popular assertion, namely, that the standard description of QM is lacking, I will also present our recent work on Bohmian mechanics, which is an extension of De-Broglie's ideas concerning the pilot wave.
The Stern-Gerlach effect, found a century ago, has become a paradigm of quantum mechanics. Unexpectedly, until recently, there has been little evidence that the original scheme with freely propagating atoms exposed to gradients from macroscopic magnets is a fully coherent quantum process. Several theoretical studies have explained why a Stern-Gerlach interferometer is a formidable challenge. Here, we provide a detailed account of the realization of a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer for single atoms and use the acquired understanding to show how this setup may be used to realize an interferometer for macroscopic objects doped with a single spin. Such a realization would open the door to a new era of fundamental probes, including the realization of previously inaccessible tests at the interface of quantum mechanics and gravity.
The Stern-Gerlach effect, found a century ago, has become a paradigm of quantum mechanics. Unexpectedly, until recently, there has been little evidence that the original scheme with freely propagating atoms exposed to gradients from macroscopic magnets is a fully coherent quantum process. Several theoretical studies have explained why a Stern-Gerlach interferometer is a formidable challenge. Here, we provide a detailed account of the realization of a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer for single atoms and use the acquired understanding to show how this setup may be used to realize an interferometer for macroscopic objects doped with a single spin. Such a realization would open the door to a new era of fundamental probes, including the realization of previously inaccessible tests at the interface of quantum mechanics and gravity.
Stern-Gerlach and/or matter-wave interferometry has garnered significant interest amongst members of the scientific community over the past few decades. Early theoretical results by Schwinger et al. demonstrate the fantastic precision capabilities required to realize a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer, i.e., a Stern-Gerlach setup that houses the capability of recombining the split wave-packets in both, position and momentum space over a certain characteristic interferometric time. Over the years, several proposals have been put forward that seek to use Stern-Gerlach and/or matter-wave interferometry as a tool for a myriad of applications of general interest, some of which include tests for fundamental physics (viz., quantum wave-function collapse, stringent tests for the Einstein equivalence principle at the quantum scale, breaking the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL) barrier, and so forth), precision sensing, quantum metrology, gravitational wave detection and inertial navigation. In addition, a large volume of work in the existing literature has been dedicated to the possibility of using matter-wave interferometry for tests of quantum gravity. Inspired by the developments in this timely research field, this Perspective attempts to provide a general overview of the theory involved, the challenges that are yet to be addressed and a brief outlook on what lays ahead.
This chapter introduces fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, focusing on wave–particle duality, superposition, entanglement, and quantum teleportation, systematically building from classical optics to quantum behavior using algebraic and trigonometric methods. Key arguments include the de Broglie hypothesis, validated by experiments such as Davisson and Germer, and quantum confinement, which results in discrete energy levels analogous to classical wave phenomena. The chapter explores quantum systems through historical experiments and theoretical frameworks, demonstrating wave properties and interference patterns, even for single particles, while introducing Pauli's exclusion principle and the Stern–Gerlach experiment. It concludes by highlighting the impact of observation on quantum systems, preparing students and professionals for further study in quantum technologies without requiring calculus.
Abstract For about a century, physicists have been debating over the behavior of particles on a microscopic scale. Although the principle of the wave-particle duality is accepted in the scientific community, many experiments with puzzling results are still challenging quantum mechanics until now, such as the double slit experiment, entanglement, interferences of a single electron, or delayed choice quantum eraser. In this article, we shall bring forth explanations for some of these experiments. Unlike standard quantum mechanics (SQM) built by Schr¨odinger1 and P.Dirac2 which considers that the wave function is an abstract mathematical tool, our model takes up the concept of the pilot wave once initiated by physicists De Broglie and D.Bohm,3 who suggested that the wave associated to a quantum object has a real existence and that it is not simply a wave of probability. We shall discuss how this old-new conception of reality renders quantum mechanics ultimately less mysterious than it seems.
In this study, we try to complement the theory with de-Broglie's idea on wave-pilot and Sakharov's hypothesis on gravitational fluctuations to convert the Method of Indirect Computation into the Comprehensive Quantum Theory. We assume that de-Broglie's wave-pilots are gravitational stochastic ones, and we shall regard micro-objects and test particles as being subject to the influence of such de-Broglie's waves. This role can be played by classical gravitational fields and waves (i.e. Gravity Background) generated by external objects. It has been shown that such stochastic gravitational fields and waves bring about mechanical wave-type fluctuations of a classical test particle. These classical particles in the course of measurements of their coordinates appear smeared in space, and these can described by quantum-mechanical wave functions. And these classical mechanical fluctuations correspond to the quantum mechanical wave function.