De Broglie relations, gravitational time dilation and weak equivalence principle
- Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 55 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190 (China)
- Chang’an University, Yanta District, Xi’an, 710064 (China)
Interplays between quantum physics and gravity have long inspired exciting studies, which reveal subtle connections between quantum laws and the general notion of curved spacetime. One important example is the uniqueness of free-falling motions in both quantum and gravitational physics. In this work, we re-investigate the free-falling motions of quantum test wave packets that are distributed over weakly curved spacetime backgrounds. Except for the de Broglie relations, no assumption of priori given Hamiltonians or least actions satisfied by the quantum system is made. We find that the mean motions of quantum test wave packets can be deduced naturally from the de Broglie relations with a generalized treatment of gravitational time dilations in quantum waves. Such mean motions of quantum test masses in gravitational field are independent of their masses and compositions, and restore exactly the free-falling or geodesic motions of classical test masses in curved spacetime. This suggests a novel perspective that weak equivalence principle, which states the universality of free-fall, may be deeply rooted in quantum physics and be a phenomenon that has emerged from the quantum world.
- OSTI ID:
- 22848468
- Journal Information:
- Annals of Physics, Vol. 400; Other Information: © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-4916
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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