Correlated worldline theory and gravitational decoherence in solid state systems

Theory Seminars

Speaker: Phil Stamp, University of British Columbia
Date & Time: December 2, 2013 12:00 - 13:00
Location: UBC, Hennings 318
Local Contact: Phil Stamp
Intended Audience: Graduate

There are fundamental differences between (i) gravity and (ii) quantum mechanics/quantum field theory, which have blocked all attempts to find an experimentally testable theory of quantum gravity. Here I describe a theory (the correlated worldline theory) in which correlations between paths in a path integral, mediated by gravity, cause a gradual breakdown of the superposition principle, and lead to testable consequences for experiments in condensed matter systems (notably in optomechanical systems). These will appear in the form of ‘gravitational decoherence’ in the large-scale quantum dynamics of these systems. The theoretical predictions have no adjustable parameters, and experiments being currently built should be operational in the next few years – I will discuss several of these experiments.