Electromagnetic Quantum Memory Printed by Gravity

TL;DR

The paper proposes that gravity, via a gravity-induced internal electric field in a conductor, can imprint a gauge-invariant EM quantum memory phase on superconducting nodes. By leveraging the vector potential through a closed-region memory and using a free-fall elevator protocol, the memory phase accumulates as $\Delta \phi = 2 e |{\bf E}| \delta \tau$ and can be read later as a magnetic flux $\Delta \Phi$ when the superconductors are recoupled. This approach links EM memory, gravitational effects in conductors, and the electric Aharonov–Bohm effect, offering a practical route to test weak gravity’s coupling to quantum phases and to store phase information in superconducting devices. If realized, the scheme could enable enhanced detection of weak signals via phase memory and provide a versatile platform for exploring fundamental quantum-gravity interplay.

Abstract

The electromagnetic memory is a theoretically predicted effect of great conceptual importance. In this Letter, we show that gravitation acceleration can serve as a source to print memory phases in superconducting states, through the electric field and vector potential it induces inside a conductor. This physical picture offers a novel perspective on the control of quantum phases and the test of gravitational effects in conductors.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: Cartoon of a closed electric field generating a phase difference between two superconductors through the vector potential effect. The two superconductors (blue) are connected by a superconducting loop with two switches, while the region in between is a conductor (red) and two thin insulator layers (grey). (The actual size of Cooper pairs is larger than that shown in the figure, and there is a high degree of overlap between them.).
• Figure 2: Microscopic mechanism of gravitationally induced electric fields in conductors SHEGELSKI2023127. The small red circles represent the positive charge distribution (nuclei) within the atoms, while the blue dashed circles depict the negative charge distribution (electron cloud). Due to the compression of the lattice in the gravitational field, the nuclei (electrons) are displaced downward by a height $\delta_N (\delta_e)$.
• Figure 3: Cartoon of the proposed experimental scheme. The system consists of superconductor (SC, blue) and conductor (C, red) is placed inside an elevator. The time evolutions of the acceleration of elevator and phase difference are shown on the right panel.
• Figure 4: Scenario in this paper could test three long-standing but unverified quantum effects simultaneously, where the observation of one is indispensable for verifying the others.