Newton, entanglement, and the graviton

Journal Article · 14 January 2022 · Physical Review. D.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.024029 · OSTI ID:1856229

Carney, Daniel ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Many experiments have recently been proposed to test whether nonrelativistic gravitational interactions can generate entanglement. In this paper, I consider the extent to which these experiments can test if the graviton exists. Assuming unitarity and Lorentz invariance of the S-matrix, I demonstrate that this "Newtonian entanglement" requires the existence of massless bosons, universally coupled to mass, in the Hilbert space of low-energy scattering states. These bosons could be the usual spin-2 gravitons, but in principle there are other possibilities like spin-0 scalar gravitons. I suggest a concept for a more refined experiment to rule these out. The special role of d=3+1 spacetime dimensions and the possibility that unitarity is violated by gravity are highlighted.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1856229
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D., Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 105; ISSN 2470-0010
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English