http://arxiv.org/abs/2103.15892
Quantum mechanics allows for states in macroscopic superpositions, but they ordinarily undergo rapid decoherence due to interactions with their environment. A system that only interacts gravitationally, such as an arrangement of dark matter (DM), may exhibit slow decoherence. In this letter, we compute the decoherence rate of a quantum object in general relativity. For axion DM in a superposition of the field’s phase, we find that DM in the Milky Way is robust against decoherence, while a spatial superposition is not. This novel phase behavior may be relevant to direct detection experiments.
I. Allali and M. Hertzberg
Wed, 31 Mar 2021
27/62
Comments: 7 pages in double column format, 1 figure