Space QUEST mission proposal: Experimentally testing decoherence due to gravity

Joshi SK, Pienaar J, Ralph TC, Cacciapuoti L, Mccutcheon W, Rarity J, Giggenbach D, Lim JG, Makarov V, Fuentes I, Scheidl T, Beckert E, Bourennane M, Bruschi DE, Cabello A, Capmany J, Carrasco-Casado A, Diamanti E, Dusek M, Elser D, Gulinatti A, Hadfield RH, Jennewein T, Kaltenbaek R, Krainak MA, Lo HK, Marquardt C, Milburn G, Peev M, Poppe A, Pruneri V, Renner R, Salomon C, Skaar J, Solomos N, Stipcevic M, Torres JP, Toyoshima M, Villoresi P, Walrnsley I, Weihs G, Weinfurter H, Zeilinger A, Zukowski M, Ursin R (2018)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Book Volume: 20

Article Number: 063016

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aac58b

Abstract

Models of quantum systems on curved space-times lack sufficient experimental verification. Some speculative theories suggest that quantum correlations, such as entanglement, may exhibit different behavior to purely classical correlations in curved space. By measuring this effect or lack thereof, we can test the hypotheses behind several such models. For instance, as predicted by Ralph et al [5] and Ralph and Pienaar [1], a bipartite entangled system could decohere if each particle traversed through a different gravitational field gradient. We propose to study this effect in a ground to space uplink scenario. We extend the above theoretical predictions of Ralph and coworkers and discuss the scientific consequences of detecting/failing to detect the predicted gravitational decoherence. We present a detailed mission design of the European Space Agency's Space QUEST (Space - Quantum Entanglement Space Test) mission, and study the feasibility of the mission scheme.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) United States (USA) (US) Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik (IOF) / Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering Germany (DE) Stockholm University / Stockholms universitet Sweden (SE) Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Austria (AT) Huawei’s German Research Center (GRC) Germany (DE) University of Bristol United Kingdom (GB) Japan National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) / 情報通信研究機構 Japan (JP) University of Oslo Norway (NO) Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) / Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik Germany (DE) Rudjer Boskovic Institute (RBI) / Institut Ruđer Bošković (IRB) Croatia (HR) Hellenic Naval Academy (HNA) / Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy / Σχολή Ναυτικών Δοκίμων Greece (GR) Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck / University of Innsbruck Austria (AT) University of Gdańsk / Uniwersytet Gdański Poland (PL) Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) / Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Spain (ES) University of Padua / Universita degli Studi di Padova Italy (IT) University of Oxford United Kingdom (GB) Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light Germany (DE) Polytechnic University of Valencia / Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Spain (ES) University of Paris 4 - Paris-Sorbonne / Université paris IV Paris-Sorbonne France (FR) Russian Quantum Center Russian Federation (RU) European Space Agency (ESA) France (FR) University of Glasgow United Kingdom (GB) University of Waterloo (UW) Canada (CA) Universität Wien / University of Vienna Austria (AT) University of York United Kingdom (GB) Palacky University Olomouc / Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci Czech Republic (CZ) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland (CH) Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) / German Aerospace Center Germany (DE) University of Seville / Universidad de Sevilla Spain (ES) University of Toronto Canada (CA) Politecnico di Milano Italy (IT) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States (USA) (US) University of Queensland Australia (AU)

How to cite

APA:

Joshi, S.K., Pienaar, J., Ralph, T.C., Cacciapuoti, L., Mccutcheon, W., Rarity, J.,... Ursin, R. (2018). Space QUEST mission proposal: Experimentally testing decoherence due to gravity. New Journal of Physics, 20(6). https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aac58b

MLA:

Joshi, Siddarth Koduru, et al. "Space QUEST mission proposal: Experimentally testing decoherence due to gravity." New Journal of Physics 20.6 (2018).

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