arXiv subjects

Akira Matsumura

Publications and source records attributed to Akira Matsumura.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Testing classical-quantum gravity with geodesic deviation

A novel semiclassical gravity model proposed by Oppenheim et al., that consistently describes interactions between quantum systems and a classical gravitational field, has recently attracted considerable attention. However, the limitations and phenomenological viability of this model have not yet been thoroughly investigated. In this work, based on the model, we study quantum fluctuations of geodesic deviation coupled with a classical gravitational field. We analytically derive the strain spectrum expected from the fluctuations and show that the original Oppenheim et al. model can be tested with the current observational sensitivity of gravitational-wave experiments. Furthermore, motivated by the novel semiclassical model, we construct two additional models: a modified Oppenheim et al. model that is manifestly consistent with Einstein equation, and a classical-quantum model with environment-induced noise. We analyze the strain spectra predicted by these two models through comparison with those of the original Oppenheim et al. model and perturbative quantum gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Gravitational effects on a dissipative two-level atom in the weak-field regime

We investigate the dissipative dynamics of a two-level atom in a weak gravitational field. Using the Feynman--Vernon influence functional formalism, we derive a quantum master equation describing the two-level atom interacting with a scalar field in a Newtonian gravitational field, and compute the energy dissipation rate of the atom. We find that the spontaneous emission rate (the dissipation rate in vacuum) is modified by the gravitational field. Specifically, this modification depends on the atom's dipole, the position of the atom relative to the source of the gravitational field, and the frequency of the scalar radiation emitted by the atom. Furthermore, we identify the parameter regimes in which the spontaneous emission rate is enhanced or suppressed by gravity. We also discuss how the modification arises from time dilation and dipole radiation in a weak gravitational field. These findings provide a theoretical basis for exploring gravitational effects in open quantum systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Minimal noise in non-quantized gravity

An elementary prediction of the quantization of the gravitational field is that the Newtonian interaction can entangle pairs of massive objects. Conversely, in models of gravity in which the field is not quantized, the gravitational interaction necessarily comes with some level of noise, i.e., non-reversibility. Here, we give a systematic classification of all possible such models consistent with the basic requirements that the non-relativistic limit is Galilean invariant and reproduces the Newtonian interaction on average. We demonstrate that for any such model to be non-entangling, a quantifiable, minimal amount of noise must be injected into any experimental system. Thus, measuring gravitating systems at noise levels below this threshold would be equivalent to demonstrating that Newtonian gravity is entangling. As concrete examples, we analyze our general predictions in a number of experimental setups, and test it on the classical-quantum gravity models of Oppenheim et al., as well as on a recent model of Newtonian gravity as an entropic force.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Measurement-Based Estimation of Causal Conditional Variances and Its Application to Macroscopic quantum phenomenon

We analytically investigate a quantum estimation method for a mechanical oscillator in a detuned cavity system based solely on homodyne measurement records, building on the framework developed by C.Meng et al. (Science Advances 8, 7585 (2022)). Estimation based only on measurement records is important because it enables state verification without assuming knowledge of the true system state. We construct a relative estimate operator from causal and anti-causal quantum Wiener filters and calculate its variance. The deviation from the causal conditional variance is defined as a reconstruction bias, whose magnitude is evaluated analytically. We show that, within experimentally relevant parameter regimes for typical quantum-state preparation, the reconstruction bias is sufficiently small to be neglected. As applications to state verification, we apply the method to proposals for macroscopic quantum entanglement mediated by electromagnetic interactions and for conditional momentum-squeezed states generated by homodyne detection, and clarify the conditions under which the bias remains negligible and when the reconstruction bias becomes significant.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Boosting Gravity-Induced Entanglement through Parametric Resonance

Establishing quantum gravity theory remains one of the major challenges in modern physics, as the lack of experimental evidence makes it difficult to explore. In response to this challenge, proposals to test quantum entanglement induced by Newtonian gravity in table-top experiments have attracted significant attention as a potentially feasible approach far below the Planck energy scale. In this work, we propose a scheme to amplify gravity-induced entanglement between two masses using parametric resonance. Specifically, we consider two parametrically resonant oscillators interacting through Newtonian gravity, each governed by the Mathieu equation. We analyzed the logarithmic negativity between two oscillators and investigate the effects of random force noise and linear damping. As a result, we find an exponential growth of gravity-induced entanglement between the oscillators, which reflects the dynamical instability of parametric resonant systems.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Space-based cm/kg-scale Laser Interferometer for Quantum Gravity

The experimental verification of the quantum nature of gravity represents a milestone in quantum gravity research. Recently, interest has grown for testing it via gravitationally induced entanglement (GIE). Here, we propose a space-based interferometer inspired by the LISA Pathfinder (LPF). Our design employs two kg-scale gold-platinum test masses which, unlike in the LPF, are surrounded by a shield below 1 K and positioned side-by-side with a centimeter-scale separation. This configuration enables the detection of GIE through simultaneous measurements of differential and common-mode motions. To estimate the integration time required for GIE detection, we simulate quantum measurements of these modes, considering noise sources such as gas damping, black-body radiation, and cosmic-ray collisions. Our results show that GIE can be demonstrated with a few modifications to the LPF setup.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Sudden Decoherence by Resonant Particle Excitation for Testing Gravity-Induced Entanglement

We propose a novel method to probe gravity-induced entanglement. We consider the gravitational interaction between a particle trapped in a shallow potential and a harmonic oscillator. The harmonic oscillator is in a quantum superposition of two frequencies and only one of these states can excite the trapped particle via resonance. Once the excited particle is detected, the quantum state of the oscillator is collapsed, which can be observed as the sudden disappearance of the superposition of oscillator frequencies. Thus, the sudden decoherence, which is only triggered by particle detection, can be a smoking gun evidence of gravity-induced entanglement. Since the probability of particle excitation increases linearly with time, the total probability is multiplied by repeating experiments. We will also discuss experimental implementations using optomechanics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Inverted Oscillators for Testing Gravity-induced Quantum Entanglement

In the quest for quantum gravity, we have lacked experimental verification, hampered by the weakness of gravity and decoherence. Recently, various experiments have been proposed to verify quantum entanglement induced by Newtonian gravitational interactions. However, they are not yet certainly feasible with existing techniques. To search for a new setup, we compute the logarithmic negativity of two oscillators with arbitrary quadratic potential coupled by gravity. We find that unstable inverted oscillators generate gravity-induced entanglement most quickly and are most resistant to decoherence from environmental fluctuations. As an experimental realization, we propose a setup of the optical levitation of mirrors with the anti-spring effect. To avoid decoherence due to photon shot noise, a sandwich configuration that geometrically creates the anti-spring is promising.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Effective description of open quantum dynamics in relativistic scattering

The open dynamics of quantum particles in relativistic scattering is investigated. In particular, we consider the scattering process of quantum particles coupled to an environment initially in a vacuum state. Tracing out the environment and using the unitarity of S-operator, we find the Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad (GKSL) generator describing the evolution of the particles. The GKSL generator is exemplified by focusing on the concrete processes: one is the decay of scalar particle ($ϕ\rightarrow χχ$), and the others are the pair annihilation and the $2\rightarrow 2$ scattering of scalar particles ($ϕϕ\rightarrow χχ$ and $ϕϕ\rightarrow ϕϕ$). The GKSL generator for $ϕ\rightarrow χχ$ has a parameter with the coupling between $ϕ$ and $χ$ and the mass of both fields. The GKSL generator associated with $ϕϕ\rightarrow χχ$ is characterized by a Lorentz-invariant function of initial momenta. Especially, in the pair annihilation process, we show that the probability of pair annihilation varies depending on the superposition state of incident scalar $ϕ$ particles. Furthermore, we observe that the GKSL generators derived in this paper have Poincaré symmetry. This means that the description by the GKSL generator with Poincaré symmetry is effective for the asymptotic behavior of open quantum dynamics in the long-term processes of interest.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Classical-quantum scattering

We analyze the framework recently proposed by Oppenheim et al. to model relativistic quantum fields coupled to relativistic, classical, stochastic fields (in particular, as a model of quantum matter coupled to ``classical gravity''). Perhaps surprisingly, we find that we can define and calculate scattering probabilities which are Lorentz-covariant and conserve total probability, at least at tree level. As a concrete example, we analyze $2 \to 2$ scattering of quantum matter mediated by a classical Yukawa field. Mapping this to a gravitational coupling in the non-relativistic limit, and assuming that we can treat large objects as point masses, we find that the simplest possible ``classical-quantum'' gravity theory constructed this way gives predictions for $2 \to 2$ gravitational scattering which are inconsistent with simple observations of, e.g., spacecraft undergoing slingshot maneuvers. We comment on lessons learned for attempts to couple quantum matter to ``non-quantum'' gravity, or more generally, for attempts to couple relativistic quantum and classical systems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Decoherence of spin superposition state caused by a quantum electromagnetic field

In this study, we investigate the decoherence of a spatially superposed electrically neutral spin-$\frac12$ particle in the presence of a relativistic quantum electromagnetic field in Minkowski spacetime. We demonstrate that decoherence due to the spin-magnetic field coupling can be categorized into two distinct factors: local decoherence, originating from the two-point correlation functions along each branch of the superposed trajectories, and nonlocal decoherence, which arises from the correlation functions between the two superposed trajectories. These effects are linked to phase damping and amplitude damping. We also show that if the quantum field is prepared in a thermal state, decoherence monotonically increases with the field temperature.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quantumness of gravitational field: A perspective on monogamy relation

Understanding the phenomenon of quantum superposition of gravitational fields induced by massive quantum particles is an important starting point for quantum gravity. The purpose of this study is to deepen our understanding of the phenomenon of quantum superposition of gravitational fields. To this end, we consider a trade-off relation of entanglement (monogamy relation) in a tripartite system consisting of two massive particles and a gravitational field that may be entangled with each other. Consequently, if two particles cannot exchange information mutually, they are in a separable state, and the particle and gravitational field are always entangled. Furthermore, even when two particles can send information to each other, there is a trade-off between the two particles and the gravitational field. We also investigate the behavior of the quantum superposition of the gravitational field using quantum discord. We find that quantum discord increases depending on the length scale of the particle superposition. Our results may help understand the relationship between the quantization of the gravitational field and the meaning of the quantum superposition of the gravitational field.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Feasible generation of gravity-induced entanglement by using optomechanical systems

We report the feasibility of detecting the gravity-induced entanglement (GIE) with optomechanical systems, which is the first investigation that clarifies the feasible experimental parameters to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio of S/N=1. Our proposal focuses on GIE generation between optomechanical mirrors, coupled via gravitational interactions, under continuous measurement, feedback control, and Kalman filtering process, which matured in connection with the field of gravitational wave observations. We solved the Riccati equation to evaluate the time evolution of the conditional covariance matrix for optomechanical mirrors that estimated the minimum variance of the motions. The results demonstrate that GIE is generated faster than a well-known time scale without optomechanical coupling. The fast generation of entanglement is associated with quantum-state squeezing by the Kalman filtering process, which is an advantage of using optomechanical systems to experimentally detect GIE.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Large violation of Leggett-Garg inequalities with coherent-state projectors for a harmonic oscillator and chiral scalar field

We investigate violations of Leggett-Garg inequalities (LGIs) for a harmonic oscillator and a (1+1)-dimensional chiral scalar field with coherent-state projectors, which is equivalent to a heterodyne-type measurement scheme. For the harmonic oscillator, we found that the vacuum and thermal states violated the LGIs by evaluating the two-time quasi-probability distribution function. In particular, we demonstrate that the value of the two-time quasi-probability reaches -0.123 for a squeezed coherent-state projector, which is equivalent to 98% of the Lüders bound corresponding to the maximal violation of the LGIs. We also find a violation of the LGIs for the local mode of a quantum chiral scalar field by constructing a coherent-state projector similar to the harmonic oscillator case. In contrast to the harmonic oscillator, the periodicity in the time direction of the quasi-probability disappears, which is related to the existence of quantum entanglement between the local mode and its complementary degrees of freedom.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Enhancement of quantum gravity signal in an optomechanical experiment

No experimental evidence of the quantum nature of gravity has been observed yet and a realistic setup with improved sensitivity is eagerly awaited. We find two effects, which can substantially enhance the signal of gravity-induced quantum entanglement, by examining an optomechanical system in which two oscillators gravitationally couple and one composes an optical cavity. The first effect comes from a higher-order term of the optomechanical interaction and generates the signal at the first order of the gravitational coupling in contrast to the second order results in previous works. The second effect is the resonance between the two oscillators. If their frequencies are close enough, the weak gravitational coupling effectively strengthens. Combining these two effects, the signal in the interference visibility could be amplified by a factor of $10^{24}$ for our optimistic parameters. The two effects would be useful in seeking feasible experimental setups to probe quantum gravity signals.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Markovian quantum master equation with Poincaré symmetry

We investigate what kind of Markovian quantum master equation (QME) in the Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad (GKSL) form is realized under Poincaré symmetry. The solution of the Markovian QME is given by a quantum dynamical semigroup, for which we introduce invariance under Poincaré transformations. Using the invariance of the dynamical semigroup and applying the unitary representation of Poincaré group, we derive the Markovian QME for a relativistic massive spin-0 particle. Introducing the field operator of the massive particle and examining its evolution, we find that the field follows a dissipative Klein-Gordon equation. In addition, we show that any two local operators for spacelike separated regions commute with each other. This means that the microcausality condition is satisfied for the dissipative model of the massive particle.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Quantum uncertainty of gravitational field and entanglement in superposed massive particles

Investigating the quantum nature of gravity is an important issue in modern physics. Recently, studies pertaining to the quantum superposition of gravitational potential have garnered significant interest. Inspired by Mari \textit{et al.} [Sci. Rep. {\bf 6} 22777 (2016)] and Baym and Ozawa [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. {\bf 106}, 3035 (2009)], Belenchia \textit{et al.} [Phys. Rev. D {\bf 98}, 126009 (2018)] considered a gedanken experiment involving such a quantum superposition and mentioned that the superposition renders causality and complementarity inconsistent. They resolved this inconsistency by considering the quantized dynamical degrees of freedom of gravity. This suggests a strong relationship between the quantum superposition of the gravitational potential and the quantization of the gravitational field. In our previous study [Phys. Rev. D {\bf 106}, 125002 (2022)], we have shown that the quantum uncertainty of a field guarantees the consistency between causality and complementarity. In this study, we focus on the entanglement between two particles' states due to the electromagnetic/gravitational potential and investigate its relationship with quantum uncertainty, causality, and complementarity. Our numerical analyses show that the quantum uncertainty of the electromagnetic/gravitational field results in vacuum fluctuations and prohibits the entanglement between two particles' states when causality is satisfied. We further demonstrate that complementarity holds when the particles do not get entangled. The uncertainty relation does not cause the entanglement between two particles' states, which guarantees complementarity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function in gravitating hybrid system

We evaluate the gravity-induced negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function in a hybrid system consisting of a particle in a two-localized superposition state and an oscillator. The generalized Wigner function can capture the nonclassicality of the system. The increase in the negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function can be an indicator of the entanglement generation, which is demonstrated in the hybrid system generating the gravity-induced entanglement in various initial states. Moreover, by comparing the behaviors of the negativity volume with the entanglement fidelity, we show that the nonclassical feature of entanglement is properly identified by the criterion based on the negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function when the oscillator is initially in a thermal state.

quant-ph↗