Space-time fluctuations and a stochastic Schr\"odinger-Newton equation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic Schrödinger-Newton equation incorporating spacetime fluctuations, demonstrating gravitationally induced decoherence of wave packets and providing a criterion consistent with previous gravity-related decoherence studies.

Contribution

It presents a novel stochastic modification of the Schrödinger-Newton equation that accounts for extrinsic spacetime fluctuations, advancing understanding of gravity-induced quantum decoherence.

Findings

Demonstrates gravitationally induced decoherence of Gaussian wave packets

Derives a decoherence criterion similar to previous gravity-related models

Shows the effect of spacetime fluctuations on quantum coherence

Abstract

We propose a stochastic modification of the Schr\"{o}dinger-Newton equation which takes into account the effect of extrinsic spacetime fluctuations. We use this equation to demonstrate gravitationally induced decoherence of two gaussian wave-packets, and obtain a decoherence criterion similar to those obtained in the earlier literature in the context of effects of gravity on the Schr\"{o}dinger equation.