Can the displacemon device test objective collapse models
2021
Testing the limits of the applicability of quantum mechanics will deepen our
understanding of the universe and may shed light on the interplay between
quantum mechanics and gravity. At present there is a wide range of approaches
for such macroscopic tests spanning matter-wave interferometry of large
molecules to precision measurements of heating rates in the motion of
micro-scale cantilevers. The "displacemon" is a proposed electromechanical
device consisting of a mechanical resonator flux coupled to a superconducting
qubit, which could be used to generate and observe quantum interference between
centre-of-mass trajectories in the motion of a resonator. In the original
proposal, the mechanical resonator was a carbon nanotube, containing $10^6$
nucleons. Such a superposition would be massive by comparison to the present
state-of-the-art, but still small compared with the mass scales on which we
might feasibly test objective collapse models. Here, instead of a carbon
nanotube, we propose using an aluminium mechanical resonator on two larger mass
scales, one inspired by the Marshall-Simon-Penrose-Bouwmeester moving-mirror
proposal, and one set by the Planck mass. For such a device, we examine the
experimental requirements needed to perform a more macroscopic quantum test and
thus feasibly detect the decoherence effects predicted by two objective
collapse models: Di\'{o}si-Penrose and continuous spontaneous localization. Our
protocol for testing these two theories takes advantage of the displacemon
architecture by analyzing the measurement statistics of a superconducting
qubit. We find that with improvements to the fabrication and vibration
sensitivities of these electromechanical devices, the displacemon
interferometer provides a new route to feasibly test decoherence mechanisms
beyond standard quantum theory.
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