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Entanglement Decay from Gravitational Decoherence: A Unique Signature of Gravity's Quantum Role

Marc Sperzel

Published Mar 22, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We identify a distinctive experimental signature of gravitational decoherence: when one member of an entangled pair undergoes gravitational decoherence, the entanglement with its distant partner decays at a rate determined by the gravitational self-energy. This distinguishes gravitational decoherence from all other mechanisms. Part of the Quantum-Geometric Duality series (Paper I).

DOI
10.5281/zenodo.19181590

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We identify a distinctive experimental signature of gravitational decoherence: when one member of an entangled pair undergoes gravitational decoherence, the entanglement with its distant partner decays at a rate determined by the gravitational self-energy. This distinguishes gravitational decoherence from all other mechanisms. Part of the Quantum-Geometric Duality series (Paper I).
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Abstract The experimental observation of a clear quantum signature of gravity is believed to be out of the grasp of current technology. However, several recent promising proposals to test the possible existence of non-classical features of gravity seem to be accessible by the state-of-art table-top experiments. Among them, some aim at measuring the gravitationally induced entanglement between two masses which would be a distinct non-classical signature of gravity. We explicitly study, in two of these proposals, the effects of decoherence on the system’s dynamics by monitoring the corresponding degree of entanglement. We identify the required experimental conditions necessary to perform successfully the experiments. In parallel, we account also for the possible effects of the continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) model, which is the most known among the models of spontaneous wavefunction collapse. We find that any value of the parameters of the CSL model would completely hinder the generation of gravitationally induced entanglement.
Quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity are presently not compatible. A particular question is whether gravity causes decoherence. Several models for gravitational decoherence have been proposed, not all of which can be described quantum mechanically. Since quantum mechanics may need to be modified, one may question the use of quantum mechanics as a calculational tool to draw conclusions from the data of experiments concerning gravity. Here we propose a general method to estimate gravitational decoherence in an experiment that allows us to draw conclusions in any physical theory where the no-signalling principle holds, even if quantum mechanics needs to be modified. As an example, we propose a concrete experiment using optomechanics. Our work raises the interesting question whether other properties of nature could similarly be established from experimental observations alone-that is, without already having a rather well-formed theory of nature to make sense of experimental data.
Abstract We discuss effects of loss of coherence in low energy quantum systems caused by or related to gravitation, referred to as gravitational decoherence. These effects, resulting from random metric fluctuations, for instance, promise to be accessible by relatively inexpensive table-top experiments, way before the scales where true quantum gravity effects become important. Therefore, they can provide a first experimental view on gravity in the quantum regime. We will survey models of decoherence induced both by classical and quantum gravitational fluctuations; it will be manifest that a clear understanding of gravitational decoherence is still lacking. Next we will review models where quantum theory is modified, under the assumption that gravity causes the collapse of the wave functions, when systems are large enough. These models challenge the quantum-gravity interplay, and can be tested experimentally. In the last part we have a look at the state of the art of experimental research. We will review efforts aiming at more and more accurate measurements of gravity ( G and g ) and ideas for measuring conventional and unconventional gravity effects on nonrelativistic quantum systems.
We analyze the dynamics of a gravity-induced entanglement for NNN massive particles. Considering the linear configuration of these particles, we investigate the entanglement between a specific pair of particles under the influence of the gravitational interaction between the massive particles. As the particle number increases, the specific particle pair decoheres more easily due to the gravitational interaction with other particles. The timescale of the gravity-induced decoherence is analytically determined. We also discuss the entanglement dynamics of initially entangled particles, which exemplify the monogamy of the gravity-induced entanglement.