Quantum gravito-optics: a light route from semiclassical gravity to quantum gravity

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/32/14/145012zbMATH Open1327.83099arXiv1508.02283OpenAlexW1952541445MaRDI QIDQ3448696FDOQ3448696

Authors: C. S. Unnikrishnan, George T. Gillies 

Publication date: 26 October 2015

Published in: Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Quantum gravity remains an elusive theory, in spite of our thorough understanding of the quantum theory and the general theory of relativity separately, presumably due to the lack of any observational clues. We argue that the theory of quantum gravity has a strong constraining anchor in the sector of gravitational radiation ensuring reliable physical clues, albeit in a limited observable form. In particular, all types of gravitational waves expected to be observable in LIGO-like advanced detectors are fully quantum mechanical states of radiation. Exact equivalence of the full quantum gravity theory with the familiar semiclassical theory is ensured in the radiation sector, in most real situations where the relevant quantum operator functions are normal ordered, by the analogue of the optical equivalence theorem in quantum optics. We show that this is indeed the case for detection of the waves from a massive binary system, a single gravitational atom, that emits coherent radiation. The idea of quantum-gravitational optics can assist in guiding along the fuzzy roads to quantum gravity.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1508.02283

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zbMATH Keywords

quantum gravitycoherent stategravitational atomgravitation waves

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Quantization of the gravitational field (83C45) Methods of quantum field theory in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C47) Gravitational waves (83C35)

Cited In (4)

• Non-perturbative spinning black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity
• Quantum gravity: meaning and measurement
• An analytic effective model for hairy black holes
• Quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field and propagation of light: A heuristic approach

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