Quantum Mechanics of Gravitational Waves
Name
PhysRevLett.127.081602.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
341.77 KB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
acc4feb76a5946b105b808c14c82eea7
Author(s)
Parikh, Maulik
Wilczek, Frank
Zahariade, George
Date Issued
August 2021
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Citation
Parikh, Maulik, Wilczek, Frank and Zahariade, George. 2021. "Quantum Mechanics of Gravitational Waves." Physical Review Letters, 127 (8).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
For the purpose of analyzing observed phenomena, it has been convenient, and thus far sufficient, to regard gravity as subject to the deterministic principles of classical physics, with the gravitational field obeying Newton's law or Einstein's equations. Here we treat the gravitational field as a quantum field and determine the implications of such treatment for experimental observables. We find that falling bodies in gravity are subject to random fluctuations ("noise") whose characteristics depend on the quantum state of the gravitational field. We derive a stochastic equation for the separation of two falling particles. Detection of this fundamental noise, which may be measurable at gravitational wave detectors, would vindicate the quantization of gravity, and reveal important properties of its sources.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.127.081602
