Macroscopicity of quantum mechanical superposition tests via hypothesis falsification

Björn Schrinski, Stefan Nimmrichter, Benjamin A. Stickler, and Klaus Hornberger
Phys. Rev. A 100, 032111 – Published 16 September 2019

Abstract

We establish an objective scheme to determine the macroscopicity of quantum superposition tests with mechanical degrees of freedom. It is based on the Bayesian hypothesis falsification of a class of macrorealist modifications of quantum theory, such as the model of continuous spontaneous localization. The measure uses the raw data gathered in an experiment, taking into account all measurement uncertainties, and can be used to directly assess any conceivable quantum mechanical test. We determine the resulting macroscopicity for three recent tests of quantum physics: double-well interference of Bose-Einstein condensates, Leggett-Garg tests with atomic random walks, and entanglement generation and read-out of nanomechanical oscillators.

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  • Received 28 February 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.100.032111

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Björn Schrinski1, Stefan Nimmrichter2, Benjamin A. Stickler1,3, and Klaus Hornberger1

  • 1University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Physics, Lotharstraße 1, 47048 Duisburg, Germany
  • 2Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Staudtstraße 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 3QOLS, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BW, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 3 — September 2019

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