Gravitational Entanglement in Optomechanics: Distinguishing Classical and Quantum Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Schlegel, Samuel, Kumar, Ankit, Paterek, Tomasz, Dakić, Borivoje
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Schlegel, Samuel
Kumar, Ankit
Paterek, Tomasz
Dakić, Borivoje
author_facet Schlegel, Samuel
Kumar, Ankit
Paterek, Tomasz
Dakić, Borivoje
contents Observation of gravitationally induced quantum entanglement is often interpreted as a direct evidence of non-classical gravity. While the form and the degree of non-classicality have been rigorously studied from a foundational perspective, classical models reproducing experimental signatures of such entanglement remain underexplored. Motivated by the experimental simplicity, nearly all existing optomechanical approaches assume Gaussian initial states, and due to the weakness of gravity the quantum Newtonian potential is truncated at the second order. However, this regime admits a classical description in terms of the Wigner-Weyl representation, including features typically associated with quantum entanglement. A clear distinction between classical and quantum predictions emerges only beyond this setting. We comprehensively analyze the possibilities and provide operational witnesses for detection of non-classicality via Wigner negativity, and detection of non-quantumness via negativity of the Weyl operator. Our results demonstrate that the experimental requirements on certifying gravitational entanglement are more stringent than previously anticipated.
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publishDate 2026
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spellingShingle Gravitational Entanglement in Optomechanics: Distinguishing Classical and Quantum Models
Schlegel, Samuel
Kumar, Ankit
Paterek, Tomasz
Dakić, Borivoje
Quantum Physics
Observation of gravitationally induced quantum entanglement is often interpreted as a direct evidence of non-classical gravity. While the form and the degree of non-classicality have been rigorously studied from a foundational perspective, classical models reproducing experimental signatures of such entanglement remain underexplored. Motivated by the experimental simplicity, nearly all existing optomechanical approaches assume Gaussian initial states, and due to the weakness of gravity the quantum Newtonian potential is truncated at the second order. However, this regime admits a classical description in terms of the Wigner-Weyl representation, including features typically associated with quantum entanglement. A clear distinction between classical and quantum predictions emerges only beyond this setting. We comprehensively analyze the possibilities and provide operational witnesses for detection of non-classicality via Wigner negativity, and detection of non-quantumness via negativity of the Weyl operator. Our results demonstrate that the experimental requirements on certifying gravitational entanglement are more stringent than previously anticipated.
title Gravitational Entanglement in Optomechanics: Distinguishing Classical and Quantum Models
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20330