Are collapse models testable with quantum oscillating systems? The case of neutrinos, kaons, chiral molecules

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of using naturally oscillating quantum systems like neutrinos, mesons, and chiral molecules to test collapse models, finding that chiral molecules are the most promising candidates for experimental verification.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to test collapse models using natural oscillating systems, contrasting with traditional interference-based methods.

Findings

Collapse models cannot be tested with neutrinos due to weak effects.

Effects are stronger in neutral mesons but still experimentally inaccessible.

Chiral molecules may provide feasible candidates for testing collapse models.

Abstract

Collapse models provide a theoretical framework for understanding how classical world emerges from quantum mechanics. Their dynamics preserves (practically) quantum linearity for microscopic systems, while it becomes strongly nonlinear when moving towards macroscopic scale. The conventional approach to test collapse models is to create spatial superpositions of mesoscopic systems and then examine the loss of interference, while environmental noises are engineered carefully. Here we investigate a different approach: We study systems that naturally oscillate --creating quantum superpositions-- and thus represent a natural case-study for testing quantum linearity: neutrinos, neutral mesons, and chiral molecules. We will show how spontaneous collapses affect their oscillatory behavior, and will compare them with environmental decoherence effects. We will show that, contrary to what previously predicted, collapse models cannot be tested with neutrinos. The effect is stronger for neutral mesons, but still beyond experimental reach. Instead, chiral molecules can offer promising candidates for testing collapse models.