Gravitational Weak Equivalence Principle Research Articles

Tunneling, reflection and gravitational weak equivalence principle in the continuous transition from quantum to classical mechanics

In an effort to describe quantum and classical mechanics with the same language, a wave equation for a continuous transition from quantum to classical mechanics has been proposed. Furthermore, the equivalence of this nonlinear equation with a linear one, known as the scaled equation, which is just the Schrodinger equation with the scaled Planck constant instead of the usual one, has been proved. Using this equation, we'll study three interesting phenomena; these include tunneling through a rectangular barrier, total reflection from a hard wall, and the gravitational weak equivalence principle in quantum, transition and classical regions. Time-independent scaled equation for the stationary states is derived and solved for a flux of particles incident on the barrier. The relations show that tunneling probability is exactly zero in the classical regime. For the other problems, we use a Gaussian wavepacket to calculate the expectation value of the position operator in reflection from the hard wall and to estimate the detection probability and arrival time in the problem of the gravitational weak equivalence.

Testing the gravitational weak equivalence principle in the standard model extension with binary pulsars

The Standard-Model Extension provides a framework to systematically investigate possible violation of the Lorentz symmetry. Concerning gravity, the linearized version was extensively examined. We here cast the first set of experimental bounds on the nonlinear terms in the field equation from the anisotropic cubic curvature couplings. These terms introduce body-dependent accelerations for self-gravitating objects, thus violating the gravitational weak equivalence principle (GWEP). Novel phenomena, that are absent in the linearized gravity, remain experimentally unexplored. We constrain them with precise binary-orbit measurements from pulsar timing, wherein the high density and large compactness of neutron stars are crucial for the test. It is the first study that seeks GWEP-violating signals in a fully anisotropic framework with Lorentz violation.

Effect of quantum statistics on the gravitational weak equivalence principle

We study the effect of quantum statistics on the arrival time distribution of quantum particles computed through the probability current density. It is shown that symmetrization or asymmetrization of the wave function affects the arrival time distribution for even freely propagating particles. In order to investigate the effect of statistics on the weak equivalence principle in quantum mechanics (WEQ), we then compute the mean arrival time for wavepackets in free fall. The violation of WEQ through the effect of statistics on the mass dependence of the mean arrival time is clearly exhibited. We finally evaluate the effect of spin on the violation of WEQ using a different approach by including an explicit spin-dependence in the probability current distribution, and compare it with the approach using particle statistics. Our results show WEQ re-emerges smoothly in the limit of large mass.

Weak equivalence principle for self-gravitating bodies: A sieve for purely metric theories of gravity

We propose the almost-geodesic motion of self-gravitating test bodies as a possible selection rule among metric theories of gravity. Starting from a heuristic statement, the ``gravitational weak equivalence principle,'' we build a formal operative test able to probe the validity of the principle for any metric theory of gravity in an arbitrary number of spacetime dimensions. We show that, if the theory admits a well-posed variational formulation, this test singles out only the purely metric theories of gravity. This conclusion reproduces known results in the cases of general relativity (as well as with a cosmological constant term) and scalar-tensor theories, but extends also to debated or unknown scenarios, such as the $f(R)$ and Lanczos-Lovelock theories. We thus provide new tools going beyond the standard methods, where the latter turn out to be inconclusive or inapplicable.

Strong quantum violation of the gravitational weak equivalence principle by a non-Gaussian wave packet

The weak equivalence principle of gravity is examined at the quantum level in two ways. First, the position detection probabilities of particles described by a non-Gaussian wave packet projected upwards against gravity around the classical turning point and also around the point of initial projection are calculated. These probabilities exhibit mass dependence at both these points, thereby reflecting the quantum violation of the weak equivalence principle. Second, the mean arrival time of freely falling particles is calculated using the quantum probability current, which also turns out to be mass dependent. Such a mass dependence is shown to be enhanced by increasing the non-Gaussianity parameter of the wave packet, thus signifying a stronger violation of the weak equivalence principle through a greater departure from Gaussianity of the initial wave packet. The mass dependence of both the position detection probabilities and the mean arrival time vanishes in the limit of large mass. Thus, compatibility between the weak equivalence principle and quantum mechanics is recovered in the macroscopic limit of the latter. A selection of Bohm trajectories is exhibited to illustrate these features in the free fall case.

Forty years of antiprotons

The discovery of the antiproton some 40 years ago and the almost synchronous fall of parity $(P)$ and charge conjugation $(C)$ symmetries were soon followed by the realization that $\mathrm{CPT}$ rather than $C$ invariance is the fundamental symmetry connecting matter and antimatter, and that consequently any measurement of the antiproton's properties can be interpreted as a test of that symmetry. It is the latter view of the antiproton, as an object of study in its own right, rather than as a means to such other ends as the production of gauge bosons and meson resonances, that is presented here. The authors review the technical steps that have led from the handful of antiprotons observed by Chamberlain, Segr\`e, Wiegand, and Ypsilantis to the intense, high-quality beams available today and show how the state of rest and isolation required for high precision measurements of their properties can be achieved by confining them in electromagnetic traps or in their microscopic counterparts, exotic atoms. The test bench role of antiprotons and antihydrogen atoms for both $\mathrm{CPT}$ symmetry and the gravitational weak equivalence principle is discussed, and the body of experimental results obtained since 1955 critically reviewed from this standpoint. Future experiments are then discussed in the light of the closure of the CERN Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR), its replacement in 1999 by the Antiproton Decelerator (AD), and the likely antiproton source at the Japan Hadron Facility.