Gravitational effects in quantum mechanics

To date, both quantum theory and Einstein's theory of general relativity have passed every experimental test in their respective regimes. Nevertheless, almost since their inception, there has been debate surrounding whether they should be unified, and by now, there exists strong theoretical arg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary physics 2016-10, Vol.57 (4), p.477-495
Main Authors: Plato, A. D. K., Hughes, C. N., Kim, M. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
collapse models
decoherence
Gravitational effects
Gravitational fields
gravity
planck scale
Proposals
Quantum mechanics
Quantum physics
Quantum theory
Relativity
Theory of relativity
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Summary:To date, both quantum theory and Einstein's theory of general relativity have passed every experimental test in their respective regimes. Nevertheless, almost since their inception, there has been debate surrounding whether they should be unified, and by now, there exists strong theoretical arguments pointing to the necessity of quantising the gravitational field. In recent years, a number of experiments have been proposed which, if successful, should give insight into features at the Planck scale. Here, we review some of the motivations, from the perspective of semi-classical arguments, to expect new physical effects at the overlap of quantum theory and general relativity. We conclude with a short introduction to some of the proposals being made to facilitate empirical verification.
ISSN:0010-7514
1366-5812
DOI:10.1080/00107514.2016.1153290