Searching New Particles at Neutrino Telescopes with Quantum-Gravitational Decoherence

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum-gravity-induced decoherence affects high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and proposes it as a novel method to search for new particles and investigate quantum properties of spacetime.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that quantum gravity-induced decoherence can serve as a sensitive probe for quantum spacetime and a tool for discovering new particles interacting only gravitationally.

Findings

Quantum gravity may break global symmetries, leading to observable decoherence effects.

Decoherence can help detect particles that interact solely through gravity.

The approach offers insights into black hole information processing.

Abstract

We discuss the interplay of wave packet decoherence and decoherence induced by quantum gravity via interactions with spacetime foam for high energy astrophysical neutrinos. In this context we point out a compelling consequence of the expectation that quantum gravity should break global symmetries, namely that quantum-gravity induced decoherence may not only be the most sensitive probe for quantum properties of spacetime, but also can provide both a powerful tool for the search for new particles, including totally decoupled backgrounds interacting only gravitationally, and at the same time a window into the intricacies of black hole information processing.