An experimental Scheme for Gravitational Scattering in Microscale: The effect of spatial superposition of mass on the microstructure of space-time

Sahar Sahebdivan

Published 2019-04-30Version 1

In this paper, we are exploring the feasibility of observing non-classical features of gravity in a low-energy regime in a quantum optomechanical experiment. If gravity is to have an underlying quantum nature, it should hold the most fundamental quantum characteristics such as the superposition principle and entanglement. Despite the weakness of gravity, in principle there is a chance, to observe such a quantum signature of the gravity by exploiting the quantum optomechanical techniques, without direct observation of graviton. We are investigating a new dynamical scheme called, gravitational quantum regime, in which the source of gravity is a quantum particle, and its centre of mass is subject to the spatial superposition. In a Gedankenexperiment, a test particle is gravitationally interacting with a quantum nanoparticle in a double-slit setup. Possible entanglement or superposition of the fields is investigated. We are looking for the corresponding deviation of the classical description of gravity despite being far from the Planck scale. Any experimental interrogation which reveals that gravitational field obeys the quantum superposition principle would be the first recognition of quantumness of gravity. This study will show how feasible it is to search for a non-classical feature of gravity in such a regime of motion. Moreover, this proposal would be an attempt to test the objectivity of the quantum superposition principle and its contribution to the microstructure of space-time.