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Are the Concepts of Mass in Quantum Theory and in General Relativity the Same?

dc.contributor.authorNikkhah Shirazi, Armin
dc.date.accessioned2011-12-03T02:28:52Z
dc.date.available2011-12-03T02:28:52Z
dc.date.issued2011-11-28
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/87999
dc.description.abstractThe predominant approaches to understanding how quantum theory and General Relativity are related to each other implicitly assume that both theories use the same concept of mass. Given that despite great efforts such approaches have not yet produced a consistent falsifiable quantum theory of gravity, this paper entertains the possibility that the concepts of mass in the two theories are in fact distinct. It points out that if the concept of mass in quantum mechanics is defined such that it always exists in a superposition and is not a gravitational source, then this sharply segregates the domains of quantum theory and of general relativity. This concept of mass violates the equivalence principle applied to active gravitational mass, but may still produce effects consistent with the equivalence principle when applied to passive gravitational mass (in agreement with observations) by the correspondence principle applied to a weak field in the appropriate limit. An experiment that successfully measures the gravity field of quantum objects in a superposition, and in particular of photons, would not only falsify this distinction but also constitute the first direct empirical test that gravity must in fact be described fundamentally by a quantum theory.en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectConcept of Massen_US
dc.subjectEquivalence Principleen_US
dc.subjectActual Massen_US
dc.subjectActualizable Massen_US
dc.titleAre the Concepts of Mass in Quantum Theory and in General Relativity the Same?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelPhysics
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelScience
dc.contributor.affiliationumPhysics, Department ofen_US
dc.contributor.affiliationumcampusAnn Arboren_US
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87999/1/Are_the_Concepts_of_Mass_in_Quantum_Theory_and_in_General_Relativity_the _Same?.pdf
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87999/3/Are_the_Concepts_of_Mass_in_Quantum_Theory_and_in_General_Relativity_the _Same?.pdf
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87999/5/Are_the_Concepts_of_Mass_in_Quantum_Theory_and_in_General_Relativity_the _Same?.pdf
dc.description.mapping78en_US
dc.owningcollnamePhysics, Department of


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