Modelling the Decoherence of Spacetime (abridged)

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether unobserved short-wavelength gravitational modes can cause decoherence in long-wavelength modes using a scalar field toy model inspired by perturbative general relativity.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified scalar field model to explore the potential decoherence effects of short-wavelength gravitational modes on long-wavelength modes.

Findings

Short-wavelength modes can induce decoherence in long-wavelength modes.

The model provides insights into the quantum-to-classical transition of spacetime.

Results suggest a mechanism for spacetime decoherence in quantum gravity.

Abstract

The question of whether unobserved short-wavelength modes of the gravitational field can induce decoherence in the long-wavelength modes (``the decoherence of spacetime'') is addressed using a scalar field toy model with some features of perturbative general relativity. This is an abridged version of the author's paper gr-qc/9612028.