Quantum 2025 – scientific programme

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MON: Monday Contributed Sessions

MON 23: Poster Session: Fundamental Aspects and Model Systems

MON 23.26: Poster

Monday, September 8, 2025, 18:30–20:30, ZHG Foyer 1. OG

The effects of Casimir interactions in experiments on gravitationally-induced entanglement — •Jan Bulling, Marit O. E. Steiner, Julen S. Pedernales, and Martin B. Plenio — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Ulm, Germany

The detection of gravitationally induced entanglement between two macroscopic bodies has recently emerged as a promising approach to probe the non-classical nature of gravity. Experimental proposals typically suggest placing the center-of-mass of two levitated particles in spatially delocalized Schrödinger-cat states or squeezed Gaussian states. According to standard arguments, a quantum theory of gravity is expected to generate entanglement between their positional degrees of freedom due to the gravitational interaction between the two masses. To ensure that the observed entanglement arises solely from gravity, all other interactions - particularly electromagnetic forces - must be suppressed. Therefore, the use of a conductive Faraday shield between the particles is often proposed.

In this work, we investigate the impact of short-range Casimir forces arising between the particles and the newly introduced shield on the entanglement generation. We show that stochastic variations in the initial state preparation across multiple experimental runs, as well as thermal vibrations of the shield, can destroy measurable entanglement.

Keywords: Quantum Gravity; Entanglement; Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics; Casimir Forces; Levitated Nanoparticles