Scientists have long puzzled over why quantum mechanics, which permits particles to exist in multiple states simultaneously, appears to cease governing objects at everyday scales. This transition, known as decoherence, remains one of fundamental physics’ central unanswered questions.
One influential theory proposed that gravity itself might trigger decoherence. Building on Einstein’s general relativity, Hungarian physicist Frigyes Károlyházy suggested in the 1960s that spacetime undergoes minute, unavoidable fluctuations that could gradually disrupt quantum superpositions. This concept was recently revisited and refined by contemporary researchers. If such fluctuations exist, they would cause charged particles to move erratically and emit faint electromagnetic radiation.
Researchers at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory, located beneath 1.4 kilometers of rock in Italy, conducted an experiment designed to detect this predicted radiation. The underground location provides natural shielding from cosmic rays and other background radiation that would interfere with measurements. Using a highly sensitive germanium crystal detector, the team collected data over 62 days and carefully isolated any signal matching the Károlyházy model’s predictions.
The experiment yielded no detectable signal. This finding does not definitively eliminate gravity’s role in quantum decoherence but does exclude one of the oldest and most straightforward gravity-based models. The result provides physicists with tighter constraints for developing future theories that might explain how gravity and quantum mechanics interact.
The work demonstrates that quantum gravity theories, traditionally considered purely theoretical, can now be subjected to empirical testing. As experimental precision continues to improve, researchers expect additional opportunities to test predictions from quantum gravity frameworks, potentially bringing science closer to understanding fundamental principles governing the universe.
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