Decoherence and entropy production due to quantum fluctuations of spacetime

Abstract

The intersection between quantum mechanics and gravitational physics has been providing challenging puzzles for decades. In this thesis, we study the dynamics of an open quantum system coupled with a bath of gravitons, the quanta of the gravitational field in the linear limit of general relativity. We focus on two main aspects. First, we analyze the decoherence induced by gravitons when we consider the open system to be described by both external and internal degrees of freedom. Since gravity is universal, the internal variables also interact with the gravitons, and here we show that this interaction leads to the decoherence of spatial superpositions of microscopic systems in the long-time regime, even when the graviton bath alone does not. We then proceed to the second main aspect, which is the entropy production that arises when an external agent drives a quantum system through the graviton bath. This irreversibility comes from quantum fluctuations of spacetime itself and, as such, has a fundamentally universal aspect.

Figures (20)

• Figure 1: Effect of a gravitational wave on a ring of stationary particles in the $x^1$-$x^2$ plane, depending on the polarization of the wave.
• Figure 2: The size of the source is roughly $\delta r\ll r$, where $r$ is the distance to the observation point.
• Figure 3: A binary star system.
• Figure 4: Michelson interferometer.
• Figure 5: Differential cross section as a function of the scattering angle.