Aharonov-Bohm Effect for Cooper Pairs in Kerr Spacetime: Gravitomagnetic Phase Shifts from Frame Dragging

TL;DR

This paper predicts a colossal gravitomagnetic Aharonov-Bohm phase shift for Cooper pairs near rotating black holes, linking quantum coherence effects to strong gravitational fields in Kerr spacetime.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for observing gravitomagnetic AB effects with Cooper pairs in Kerr spacetime, providing quantitative phase shift predictions near supermassive black holes.

Findings

Predicted phase shifts of up to 10^{27} radians near M87*

Derived gauge-invariant AB phase formula in Kerr spacetime

Analyzed interferometer geometry and pair stability at large distances

Abstract

The unification of quantum mechanics and general relativity remains among the most profound challenges in fundamental physics. Here we investigate a novel quantum probe of strong-field gravity: the gravitomagnetic Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect for Cooper pairs propagating in Kerr spacetime. The frame-dragging induced by a rotating black hole (BH) generates an effective vector potential through the off-diagonal metric component $g_{t\phi}$, which couples to the macroscopic phase of the superconducting condensate. We derive the gauge-invariant AB phase shift $\Delta\theta = (4\pi m^* Ma/\hbar)(1/r_2 - 1/r_1)$ for an interferometer with arms at radii $r_1$ and $r_2$, where $m^* = 2m_e$ is the Cooper pair mass and $a$ is the BH spin parameter. Remarkably, the predicted phases reach $|\Delta\theta| \sim 10^{24}$ radians for Sgr~A* and $\sim 10^{27}$ radians for M87*, reflecting the enormous gravitomagnetic flux near supermassive BHs. We analyze the dependence on interferometer geometry, demonstrate that tidal disruption of Cooper pairs is negligible at distances $r \gtrsim 10\,r_s$, and establish connections to the geometric Berry phase. Although direct experimental realization remains beyond current technology due to the vast distances involved, our framework provides quantitative predictions linking quantum coherence to spacetime curvature, complementing recent observations of gravitational AB phases in atom interferometry.