Wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Loughlin, Hudson A., Tobar, Germain, Hall, Evan D., Sudhir, Vivishek
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866908707319709696
author Loughlin, Hudson A.
Tobar, Germain
Hall, Evan D.
Sudhir, Vivishek
author_facet Loughlin, Hudson A.
Tobar, Germain
Hall, Evan D.
Sudhir, Vivishek
contents In a consistent description of the quantum measurement process, whether the wave or particle-like aspect of a system is revealed depends on the details of the measurement chain, and cannot be interpreted as an objective fact about the system independent of the measurement. We show precisely how this comes to be in the measurement of gravitational radiation. Whether a wave or particle-like aspect is revealed is a property of the detector employed at the end of the quantum measurement chain, rather than of the meter, such as a gravitational-wave (GW) antenna or resonant bar, used to couple the radiation to the detector. A linear detector yields no signal for radiation in a Fock state and a signal proportional to the amplitude in a coherent state -- supporting a wave-like interpretation. By contrast, the signal from a detector coupled to the meter's energy is non-zero only when the incident radiation contains at least a single graviton. Thus, conceptually simple modifications of contemporary GW antennae can reveal wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_03527
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation
Loughlin, Hudson A.
Tobar, Germain
Hall, Evan D.
Sudhir, Vivishek
Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Optics
In a consistent description of the quantum measurement process, whether the wave or particle-like aspect of a system is revealed depends on the details of the measurement chain, and cannot be interpreted as an objective fact about the system independent of the measurement. We show precisely how this comes to be in the measurement of gravitational radiation. Whether a wave or particle-like aspect is revealed is a property of the detector employed at the end of the quantum measurement chain, rather than of the meter, such as a gravitational-wave (GW) antenna or resonant bar, used to couple the radiation to the detector. A linear detector yields no signal for radiation in a Fock state and a signal proportional to the amplitude in a coherent state -- supporting a wave-like interpretation. By contrast, the signal from a detector coupled to the meter's energy is non-zero only when the incident radiation contains at least a single graviton. Thus, conceptually simple modifications of contemporary GW antennae can reveal wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation.
title Wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation
topic Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03527