Gravitational decoherence is a term for hypothetical mechanisms by which
gravitation
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
can act on
quantum mechanical
Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is the foundation of a ...
systems to produce
decoherence
Quantum decoherence is the loss of quantum coherence. It involves generally a loss of information of a system to its environment. Quantum decoherence has been studied to understand how quantum systems convert to systems that can be expla ...
. Advocates of gravitational decoherence include
Frigyes Károlyházy,
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...
and
Lajos Diósi.
A number of experiments have been proposed to test the gravitational decoherence hypothesis.
and
Robert Lanza have argued that gravitational decoherence may explain the existence of the
arrow of time
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ca ...
.
See also
*
Penrose interpretation
*
Diósi–Penrose model
*
Objective-collapse theory
Objective-collapse theories, also known spontaneous collapse models or dynamical reduction models, are proposed solutions to the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. As with other interpretations of quantum mechanics, they are possible exp ...
*
Quantum gravity
Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics. It deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the v ...
References
Quantum mechanics
Quantum gravity
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