Gravity-induced wave-function collapse and experimental tests

当代物理学对量子物质如何产生引力场的问题没有明确的答案。同时，各种模型试图将引力与波函数的坍缩联系起来。在这个项目中，我将解决这样一个问题，即由Schrödinger-Newton方程描述的量子系统中的引力自相互作用是否对量子态还原的理解起到rôle的作用，如果是这样，这种还原的机制是什么。当解释为坍缩模型时，Schrödinger-Newton方程表现出的某些行为必须得到更好的理解。这项研究的后续工作将是研究如何根据Schrödinger-Newton方程将引力相互作用与目前在主办机构的里雅斯特大学Angelo Bassi小组研究的随机坍缩模型合并。为了平衡这一纯理论研究，我将显著改进如何实验测试Schrödinger-Newton动力学的命题。为此，我将借鉴我在博士论文期间所做的工作。改进后的预测将通过主办机构与南安普顿的亨德里克·乌布里希特（Hendrik Ulbricht）研究组的现有合作进行实验测试。这种对Schrödinger-Newton方程的肯定检验或证伪，将在微观层面上为引力相互作用的形式和结构提供新的见解，并且，通过扩展，提供对量子力学基础的更好理解。

Contemporary physics has no unambiguous answer to the question how quantum matter sources a gravitational field. At the same time, various models try to link gravitation with the collapse of the wave-function. In this project I will address the question whether a gravitational self-interaction in quantum systems as described by the Schrödinger-Newton equation plays a rôle for the understanding of quantum state reduction, and if so, what the mechanism of this reduction is.When interpreted as a collapse model, the Schrödinger-Newton equation manifests certain behaviours for which a better understanding has to be gained. This study will be followed up by research on how the gravitational interaction according to the Schrödinger-Newton equation can be merged with the stochastic collapse models currently studied at the host institution in the group of Angelo Bassi at the University of Trieste.To balance this purely theoretical research, I will significantly improve on propositions of how to experimentally test the Schrödinger-Newton dynamics. For this, I will draw on the work I did during my PhD thesis. The improved predictions will be experimentally tested through an existing collaboration of the host institution with the experimental group of Hendrik Ulbricht in Southampton.Such a positive test, or falsification, of the Schrödinger-Newton equation will provide new insight into the form and structure of the gravitational interaction at the microscopic level, and, by extension, provide a better understanding of the foundations of Quantum Mechanics.