Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity
All existing quantum-gravity proposals are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The fundamental reason is that the gravitational coupling constant is about 43 orders of magnitude smaller tha...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2017
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| _version_ | 1826294121722019840 |
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| author | Marletto, C Vedral, V |
| author_facet | Marletto, C Vedral, V |
| author_sort | Marletto, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | All existing quantum-gravity proposals are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The fundamental reason is that the gravitational coupling constant is about 43 orders of magnitude smaller than the fine structure constant, which governs light-matter interactions. For example, detecting gravitons—the hypothetical quanta of the gravitational field predicted by certain quantum-gravity proposals—is deemed to be practically impossible. Here we adopt a radically different, quantum-information-theoretic approach to testing quantum gravity. We propose witnessing quantumlike features in the gravitational field, by probing it with two masses each in a superposition of two locations. First, we prove that any system (e.g., a field) mediating entanglement between two quantum systems must be quantum. This argument is general and does not rely on any specific dynamics. Then, we propose an experiment to detect the entanglement generated between two masses via gravitational interaction. By our argument, the degree of entanglement between the masses is a witness of the field quantization. This experiment does not require any quantum control over gravity. It is also closer to realization than detecting gravitons or detecting quantum gravitational vacuum fluctuations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:40:45Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:bdcee593-d031-4d3d-b0c3-48abb06a20aa |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:40:45Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:bdcee593-d031-4d3d-b0c3-48abb06a20aa2022-03-27T05:34:33ZGravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravityJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:bdcee593-d031-4d3d-b0c3-48abb06a20aaEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordAmerican Physical Society2017Marletto, CVedral, VAll existing quantum-gravity proposals are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The fundamental reason is that the gravitational coupling constant is about 43 orders of magnitude smaller than the fine structure constant, which governs light-matter interactions. For example, detecting gravitons—the hypothetical quanta of the gravitational field predicted by certain quantum-gravity proposals—is deemed to be practically impossible. Here we adopt a radically different, quantum-information-theoretic approach to testing quantum gravity. We propose witnessing quantumlike features in the gravitational field, by probing it with two masses each in a superposition of two locations. First, we prove that any system (e.g., a field) mediating entanglement between two quantum systems must be quantum. This argument is general and does not rely on any specific dynamics. Then, we propose an experiment to detect the entanglement generated between two masses via gravitational interaction. By our argument, the degree of entanglement between the masses is a witness of the field quantization. This experiment does not require any quantum control over gravity. It is also closer to realization than detecting gravitons or detecting quantum gravitational vacuum fluctuations. |
| spellingShingle | Marletto, C Vedral, V Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title | Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title_full | Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title_fullStr | Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title_short | Gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| title_sort | gravitationally induced entanglement between two massive particles is sufficient evidence of quantum effects in gravity |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marlettoc gravitationallyinducedentanglementbetweentwomassiveparticlesissufficientevidenceofquantumeffectsingravity AT vedralv gravitationallyinducedentanglementbetweentwomassiveparticlesissufficientevidenceofquantumeffectsingravity |