Quantum Superposition of Two Gravitational Cat States

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum superposition of two gravitational cat states in Bose-Einstein condensates, exploring theoretical models, gravitational entanglement, and potential experimental implications for understanding quantum gravity.

Contribution

It extends previous work to model two gravcats in BECs, deriving a gravitational Gross-Pitaevsky equation and analyzing their properties and observational prospects.

Findings

Gravity-induced Rabi oscillations in gravcats

Gravity-induced entanglement of energy eigenstates

Potential for experimental detection of quantum gravitational effects

Abstract

We extend our earlier work on probing a gravitational cat state (gravcat)---see, arXiv:1504.03103 ---to the quantum superposition of two gravcats in an exemplary model and in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). In addition to its basic theoretical values in gravitational quantum physics and macroscopic quantum phenomena this investigation can provide some theoretical support to experimental proposals for measuring gravity-induced entanglement and the quantum nature of perturbative gravity. In the first part we consider cat states generated by double-well potentials. Approximated as two-level systems, a pair of gravcats is characterized by gravity-induced Rabi oscillations, and by gravity-induced entanglement of its energy eigenstates. In the second part we turn to a (non-relativistic) quantum field theory description and derive a gravitational Gross-Pitaevsky equation for gravcats formed in BECs. Using a mathematical analogy to quantum rotors, we explore the properties of the two-gravcat system for BECs, its physical consequences and observational possibilities. Finally we discuss our results in comparison to predictions of alternative quantum theories, and we explain their implications.