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Universal decoherence due to gravitational time dilation

Nature Physics volume 11, pages 668–672 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The physics of low-energy quantum systems is usually studied without explicit consideration of the background spacetime. Phenomena inherent to quantum theory in curved spacetime, such as Hawking radiation, are typically assumed to be relevant only for extreme physical conditions: at high energies and in strong gravitational fields. Here we consider low-energy quantum mechanics in the presence of gravitational time dilation and show that the latter leads to the decoherence of quantum superpositions. Time dilation induces a universal coupling between the internal degrees of freedom and the centre of mass of a composite particle. The resulting correlations lead to decoherence in the particle position, even without any external environment. We also show that the weak time dilation on Earth is already sufficient to affect micrometre-scale objects. Gravity can therefore account for the emergence of classicality and this effect could in principle be tested in future matter-wave experiments.

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Figure 1: Gravitational time dilation causes decoherence of composite quantum systems.
Figure 2: A composite particle in superposition will decohere owing to time dilation.
Figure 3: Decoherence due to gravitational time dilation as compared to decoherence due to emission of thermal radiation for sapphire microspheres.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Arndt, M. Aspelmeyer, L. Diosi and M. Vanner for discussions and S. Eibenberger for providing us with the illustration of the TPPF20 molecule. This work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through the doctoral program Complex Quantum Systems (CoQuS), the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), the SFB FoQuS and the Individual Project 24621, by the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), the John Templeton Foundation, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (grant number CE110001013), the European Commission through RAQUEL (No. 323970) and the COST Action MP1209.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5 A-1090 Vienna, Austria,

    Igor Pikovski, Magdalena Zych, Fabio Costa & Časlav Brukner

  2. Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3 A-1090 Vienna, Austria,

    Igor Pikovski, Magdalena Zych, Fabio Costa & Časlav Brukner

  3. ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Igor Pikovski

  4. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

    Igor Pikovski

  5. Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia

    Magdalena Zych & Fabio Costa

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  1. Igor Pikovski
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I.P., M.Z., F.C. and Č.B. contributed to all aspects of the research, with the leading input from I.P.

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Correspondence to Igor Pikovski.

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Pikovski, I., Zych, M., Costa, F. et al. Universal decoherence due to gravitational time dilation. Nature Phys 11, 668–672 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3366

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