General relativistic effects in quantum interference of photons

Autor(en)

Magdalena Zych, Fabio Michele Costa, Igor Pikovski, T Ralph, Caslav Brukner

Abstrakt

Quantum mechanics and general relativity have been extensively and independently confirmed in many experiments. However, the interplay of the two theories has never been tested: all experiments that measured the influence of gravity on quantum systems are consistent with non-relativistic, Newtonian gravity. On the other hand, all tests of general relativity can be described within the framework of classical physics. Here we discuss a quantum interference experiment with single photons that can probe quantum mechanics in curved space-time. We consider a single photon traveling in superposition along two paths in an interferometer, with each arm experiencing a different gravitational time dilation. If the difference in the time dilations is comparable with the photon's coherence time, the visibility of the quantum interference is predicted to drop, while for shorter time dilations the effect of gravity will result only in a relative phase shift between the two arms. We discuss what aspects of the interplay between quantum mechanics and general relativity are probed in such experiments and analyze the experimental feasibility.

Organisation(en)

Quantenoptik, Quantennanophysik und Quanteninformation

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Queensland

Journal

Classical and Quantum Gravity

Band

29

Anzahl der Seiten

18

ISSN

0264-9381

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/29/22/224010

Publikationsdatum

2012

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103026 Quantenoptik

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/362e5467-4154-4fff-ab24-0577c03091ec