A possible experimental test of quantized gravity

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential for experimental tests of whether gravity is fundamentally quantum or classical by examining nonlinear effects in the Schrödinger-Newton approximation, which could be observable in future molecular interferometry experiments.

Contribution

It proposes a novel experimental approach to distinguish between quantized and classical gravity through nonlinear quantum effects.

Findings

Nonlinearities in the Schrödinger equation may be detectable with upcoming molecular interferometry.

Numerical simulations suggest observable deviations from standard quantum mechanics if gravity is classical.

The study provides a framework for testing the quantum nature of gravity experimentally.

Abstract

While it is widely believed that gravity should ultimately be treated as a quantum theory, there remains a possibility that general relativity should not be quantized. If this is the case, the coupling of classical gravity to the expectation value of the quantum stress-energy tensor will naturally lead to nonlinearities in the Schrodinger equation. By numerically investigating time evolution in the nonrelativistic "Schrodinger-Newton" approximation, we show that such nonlinearities may be observable in the next generation of molecular interferometry experiments.