Classical-quantum gravity as quantum gravity in disguise

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Hotta, Masahiro, Murk, Sebastian, Terno, Daniel R.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Hotta, Masahiro
Murk, Sebastian
Terno, Daniel R.
author_facet Hotta, Masahiro
Murk, Sebastian
Terno, Daniel R.
contents Whether gravity must be quantized remains one of the biggest open problems in fundamental physics. Classical-quantum hybrid theories have recently attracted attention as a possible framework in which gravity is treated classically yet interacts consistently with quantum matter. Schemes based on completely positive dynamics satisfy most formal consistency requirements and enable a systematic treatment of quantum backreaction, but they also invite the question of whether the hybrid description is fundamental or instead an effective sector of a larger quantum theory. Here, we demonstrate that classical-quantum gravity based on completely positive dynamics admits an embedding into a fully quantum theory on an enlarged Hilbert space. As a complementary illustration, we consider a qubit interacting with a classical particle and demonstrate that the corresponding hybrid system violates angular momentum conservation despite rotational symmetry of the underlying equations of motion. This provides an explicit example of a fully closed, rotationally invariant classical-quantum system with completely positive dynamics that violates a conservation law.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_15291
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Classical-quantum gravity as quantum gravity in disguise
Hotta, Masahiro
Murk, Sebastian
Terno, Daniel R.
Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Whether gravity must be quantized remains one of the biggest open problems in fundamental physics. Classical-quantum hybrid theories have recently attracted attention as a possible framework in which gravity is treated classically yet interacts consistently with quantum matter. Schemes based on completely positive dynamics satisfy most formal consistency requirements and enable a systematic treatment of quantum backreaction, but they also invite the question of whether the hybrid description is fundamental or instead an effective sector of a larger quantum theory. Here, we demonstrate that classical-quantum gravity based on completely positive dynamics admits an embedding into a fully quantum theory on an enlarged Hilbert space. As a complementary illustration, we consider a qubit interacting with a classical particle and demonstrate that the corresponding hybrid system violates angular momentum conservation despite rotational symmetry of the underlying equations of motion. This provides an explicit example of a fully closed, rotationally invariant classical-quantum system with completely positive dynamics that violates a conservation law.
title Classical-quantum gravity as quantum gravity in disguise
topic Quantum Physics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15291