On the conjectured gravity-related collapse rate $E_\Delta/\hbar$ of massive quantum superpositions

Abstract

Roger Penrose and the author share the proposal that the spatial superposition $|x_1\rangle+|x_2\rangle$ of a massive object collapses into its localized components $|x_1\rangle$ or $|x_2\rangle$ with the characteristic time $\hbar/E_\Delta$ where $E_\Delta$ is the gravitational self-energy excess of the superposition versus the localized states. Underlying arguments of such radical departure from standard quantum mechanics and different derivations of the rate equation are briefly recapitulated and discussed.