How to avoid the appearance of a classical world in gravity experiments

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges and conditions for conducting quantum gravity experiments with gravitational source masses, emphasizing environmental decoherence as a key factor influencing their feasibility.

Contribution

It analyzes the boundary conditions imposed by environmental decoherence on quantum gravity experiments, highlighting the balance needed for feasible experimental realization.

Findings

Decoherence significantly constrains quantum gravity experiments.

Mild decoherence conditions are necessary but challenging to achieve.

Next-generation experiments face formidable environmental decoherence barriers.

Abstract

Quantum states of gravitational source masses can lead to experimental outcomes that are inconsistent with the predictions of a purely classical field theory of gravity. Environmental decoherence places strict boundary conditions to the potential realization of such experiments: sufficiently mild not to act as a fundamental show-stopper, yet sufficiently demanding to represent a formidable challenge to the next generation of quantum experiment(er)s.