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Easily doable "tests of quantum gravity" won't learn us anything new

Natalie Wolchover wrote an article almost quantum gravity,
Physicists Find a Way to See the ‘Grin’ of Quantum Gravity
which eclectically mixes people as well as sentiment associated amongst the phrase "quantum gravity" who otherwise belong to totally dissimilar layers of the scientific community.



The interwar Czechoslovak creative individual Joseph Čapek, the blood brother of Karel "Robot" Čapek, is also known for the fairy-tales on doggie as well as pussycat. One of them is "How Doggie as well as Pussycat Were Making a Cake". To celebrate the doggie's cry day, they added bones, cheese, sausages, caviar, cucumbers, strawberries, everything they liked to the cake. They ate it as well as felt sick. I mean value that at the end, an evil dog-thief stole the cake as well as felt sick, too. Czechoslovak kids could acquire that it's non a best sentiment to mix everything. I am afraid that Wolchover hasn't been exposed to this fairy-tale.

She starts amongst the Soviet physicist Matvei Bronstein who proposed an early on derivation of effective land theory of quantum gravity involving gravitons inwards 1935. Joseph Stalin said that at that spot was a threat that this quantum gravity could grow to string theory – which Stalin's comrades Smolin as well as Woit (whose nascency was already planned past times the political party at that time) won't similar – as well as thence he executed Bronstein at the historic current of 31.




The primary theme of Wolchover's article are ii articles inwards PRL:
Spin Entanglement Witness for QG (by Bose et al.)

Gravitationally Induced Entanglement... (by Marletto as well as Vedral)
Lenny Susskind is the primary truthful quantum gravity practiced who is quoted inwards the Quanta Magazine (and as well as thence is Mark Van Raamsdonk, but he talks almost the locality etc.) who explains that these proposed experiments may move quoted as experiments to mensurate Newton's police inwards a novel part of distances as well as masses but they can't learn us anything almost what experts similar him actually telephone yell upwards quantum gravity.

The actual quantum gravity requires extreme weather condition similar the vicinity of the Big Bang or a dark hole singularity; or around extremely precise correlated measurements of the Hawking radiations from a larger dark hole, or other things that exactly are hard as well as that can't move tested past times these otherwise mundane experiments.




Quantum mechanics as well as gravity both operate inwards our public – as well as thence every feasible theory that involves these ii classes of phenomena unavoidably is a theory of quantum gravity. It's rather hard to create such a theory that reconciles these ii aspects of reality as well as string/M-theory is the solely known (and in all likelihood solely mathematically possible) theory that does as well as thence fully consistently.

On the other hand, the reconciliation of gravity as well as quantum mechanics at around "approximate or superficial level" is vastly easier as well as to a greater extent than straightforward than many other people mean value – including the authors of the ii PRL papers above. The phenomena involving weak gravitational forces – such as those on public – are inwards regulation understood past times the well-known theories that generalize the Standard Model etc. inwards a straightforward way, as long as y'all are satisfied amongst a truly goodness plenty but inwards regulation imperfect precision of the predictions.

In Quantum Electrodynamics, nosotros calculate the "loop corrections", Feynman diagrams amongst internal loops i.e. non-minimal publish of vertices for a given collection of external legs, as well as they are needed for truly precise corrections. But if y'all don't assist almost this precision, y'all may calculate the tree-level Feynman diagrams only. The numbers obtained from the tree-level diagrams may move reorganized as well as thence that they acquire equivalent to the predictions of the corresponding classical land theory. You postulate to acquire around theory to move able to arrive at the reorganization but 1 time y'all acquire it, y'all tin sack arrive at it amongst whatsoever quantum land theory – as well as that's why the tree-level diagrams are oft called "classical contributions".

These tree-level diagrams are perfectly understood inwards the illustration of gravity, too. So nosotros may calculate all the effects of gravity on particles – including particles that are measured inwards the quantum trend – using the tree-level diagrams. The truthful mysteries of quantum gravity solely start when the loop corrections or non-perturbative corrections acquire large or start to spoil around cherished principles, as well as and thence on.

The papers inwards PRL implicitly assume that it's uncertain whether the gravitational strength may create entanglement; or whether it may alter the relative quantum phases of a moving ridge function. Well, move sure that it tin sack as well as it's been demonstrated – because it's slowly to demonstrate – that the gravitational strength tin sack atomic number 82 to these "quantum mechanical results" (modified phases, entanglement), exactly similar non-gravitational forces tin sack arrive at it.

How does the gravitational strength create a alter of the quantum phases? Well, if a particle falls inwards a gravitational field, its momentum inwards the downward management increases, doesn't it? But quantum mechanically, the momentum \(p\) is zippo else than the "rate of alter of the quantum phase" per unit of measurement length because the plane moving ridge is \(\exp(ipx/\hbar)\). So if y'all mensurate the relative stage of the moving ridge business office at ii nearby points, y'all mensurate the momentum of the particle. Because the gravitational force, similar whatsoever force, changes the momentum, it changes the relative stage of the moving ridge business office betwixt ii nearby points!

Does the gravitational strength create the entanglement? You bet. The entanglement is zippo else than the most full general correlation betwixt ii subsystems of a physical scheme when described past times a pure soil \(\ket\psi\). So to reckon that gravity may drive entanglement, it's plenty to gravitationally arrive at around correlation inwards a scheme that may move described past times a pure state. Well, house boxes A,B on transcend of each other. Place the particle X inwards the upper box A, as well as exert the gravitational force. The particle volition move chop-chop attracted to the box B as well as afterwards around time, it volition evolve to a superposition of states which is partly inwards the box Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 as well as partly inwards the B.

But this superposition may move interpreted as the entanglement betwixt the boxes A,B. It's the entangled state\[

\ket \psi = a \ket 1 \ket 0 + b \ket 0 \ket 1

\] where the kets entering each tensor production dot the publish of particles within the boxes Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 as well as B, respectively. So the gravitational strength may for sure create or speed upwards the creation of entanglement.

Aside from quantum phases or quantum entanglement, y'all may choice whatsoever favorite "quantum buzzword" of yours, advise whatsoever low-energy experiment, as well as brag that it's the outset experiment that has demonstrated the "quantum buzzword" inwards the context of gravity. In all these cases, y'all volition move as total of šit. The uncomplicated ground is that nosotros guide maintain a pretty much consummate theory – the effective land theory of the full general theory of relativity (plus other fields) – that governs quantum gravity inwards all these weak-field situations. And nosotros also guide maintain a sufficient trunk of bear witness that the theory truly plant inwards all these situations. So y'all won't discovery anything new.

Negatively speaking, no 1 has whatsoever plausible sentiment for an alternative result of whatsoever of these experiments. And the people who advise option results are either unable to figure out that their proposed option outcome (or their weird theory that tries to "treat gravity classically" piece everything else is quantum mechanical) is internally inconsistent or inconsistent amongst things that guide maintain been tested; or they completely misunderstand how weak-field quantum gravity (or quantum mechanics inwards general) plant inwards the outset place. You can't create a theory that treats a part of the degrees of liberty (e.g. the gravitational ones) classically piece the influences are allowed inwards both directions. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 consistent theory tin sack move classical or quantum mechanical but it can't move both.

Wolchover's article mixes the actual quantum gravity experts amongst the faux quantum gravity experts. It's a bizarre coming together of dissimilar cultures. Chiara Marletto is for sure a charming adult woman but her interrogation seems to guide maintain no beef, as ii older TRF texts guide maintain argued. Much of it is exactly irrational worshiping of the words such as "constructor", "extinction", as well as of random sentences as well as experimental designs that appear to mix quantum as well as gravitational features, similar inwards the cake of the doggie as well as pussycat. She couldn't fifty-fifty dream almost starting a existent quantum gravity interrogation – as the phrase is understood past times Lenny Susskind, Mark Van Raamsdonk, or me, for that affair – because she's clearly confused almost many basic things as well as she sees magic dragons at many places where no dragons may exist.

On transcend of her as well as other co-authors of the ii PRL papers, the Quanta Magazine mentions several crazy propositions past times Freeman Dyson, Roger Penrose, as well as Lajos Diósi who desire to claim that "gravity isn't quantum", "gravitons can't exist", as well as several additional stupidities. Well, they may move famous as well as achieved scientists but these statements are exactly ludicrous screams produced past times the total laymen. There is absolutely no scientifically defensible bear witness that could move written inwards a newspaper that could move taken seriously past times anyone who has learned the basic facts almost that discipline.

Gravitons guide maintain to exist. Gravitational waves guide maintain been discovered past times LIGO (and indirectly, past times the pulsar inwards the 1990s). And a moving ridge business office has to clitoris such waves. Because the moving ridge functions depend on fourth dimension as \(\exp(Et/i\hbar)\) as well as nosotros desire all the relative phases to move periodic (because the monochromatic gravitational waves impact other objects inwards a periodic way), it follows that the unloose energy eigenstates contributing to the moving ridge business office guide maintain to guide maintain energies that differ past times integer multiples of \(E=\hbar\omega\), the unloose energy of 1 graviton. So the gravitational waves guide maintain to comport a quantized unloose energy – they guide maintain to move composed of gravitons. The declaration is identical to the declaration that implies that electromagnetic waves are composed of photons – as well as it is as valid inwards both cases (and the illustration of whatsoever other waves), too.

The theory nosotros guide maintain truly describes all low-energy or weak-field experiments correctly, almost certainly so. That in all likelihood includes all experiments whose budget is below 1 billion dollars. You may move "skeptical" towards these statements but exactly past times beingness skeptical, y'all haven't presented a competing scenario or an option theory that would allow y'all to move treated a peer of the actual quantum gravity experts who guide maintain the effective theory, who sometimes co-created it, as well as who may apply it to compute the results of whatsoever doable experiment. Your cry may move Penrose or Dyson but the cry exactly doesn't affair – inwards quantum gravity, you're nonetheless an irrelevant whining layman. Actual quantum gravity experts know how to calculate the verifiably right predictions of these experiments – piece the faux ones can't. There is no "democracy" betwixt these ii groups.

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