Abstract
We propose to test the theory of continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) in an all-optical time-domain Talbot-Lau interferometer for clusters with masses exceeding 1000000 amu. By assessing the relevant environmental decoherence mechanisms, as well as the growing size of the particles relative to the grating fringes, we argue that it will be feasible to test the quantum superposition principle in a mass range excluded by recent estimates of the CSL effect.
Highlights
PACS number(s): 03.75.−b, 03.65.Ta, 03.65.Yz, 36.40.Vz. It is a basic unresolved question of quantum mechanics whether the Schrodinger equation holds for truly macroscopic systems
Unitarity would imply that even measurement devices or conscious observers could, in principle, be brought into a superposition of macroscopically distinct states
The affirmative statement, preferred in quantum cosmology, requires some interpretational exercise to explain why definite measurement outcomes are perceived in spite of all outcomes being simultaneously realized in a multitude of “Everett worlds.”
Summary
It is a basic unresolved question of quantum mechanics whether the Schrodinger equation holds for truly macroscopic systems. Whatever one thinks about the need or plausibility of such unconventional theories of the quantum-to-classical transition, they have the clear advantage that they can be tested in principle. In this way they bring back to physics what is otherwise an issue of logical consistency and epistemology. A delocalized quantum state of a material particle may experience a random “collapse,” which localizes the wave function to a scale of about 100 nm. We conclude that it will become technologically feasible to test the quantum superposition principle at mass and time scales at which it is predicted to fail according to recent estimates by Adler and Bassi [6,7]
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