Entanglement of Magnetically Levitated Massive Schr\"odinger Cat States by Induced Dipole Interaction

TL;DR

This paper proposes entanglement-based protocols using Stern-Gerlach setups to test magnetically induced dipole interactions and Casimir-Polder forces between nano-crystals in Schrödinger Cat states, advancing quantum physics tests.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scheme to observe entanglement mediated by dipole and Casimir-Polder interactions in magnetically levitated nano-crystals using a Stern-Gerlach apparatus.

Findings

Entanglement can be witnessed in nano-crystals with superposition sizes of 0.1 micron.

The scheme allows closing the interferometer with modest magnetic field gradients.

Potential to test fundamental quantum interactions at mesoscopic scales.

Abstract

Quantum entanglement provides a novel way to test short-distance quantum physics in a non-relativistic regime. We provide entanglement-based protocols to potentially test the magnetically induced dipole-dipole interaction and the Casimir-Polder potential between the two nano-crystals kept in a Schrodinger Cat state. Our scheme is based on the Stern-Gerlach (SG) apparatus, where we can witness the entanglement mediated by these interactions for the nano-crystal mass m~10^-19 kg with a spatial superposition size of order 0.1 micron in a trap relying on diamagnetic levitation. We show that it is possible to close the SG interferometer in position and momentum with a modest gradient in the magnetic field.