Inverted Oscillators for Testing Gravity-induced Quantum Entanglement

Abstract

In the quest for quantum gravity, we have lacked experimental verification, hampered by the weakness of gravity and decoherence. Recently, various experiments have been proposed to verify quantum entanglement induced by Newtonian gravitational interactions. However, they are not yet certainly feasible with existing techniques. To search for a new setup, we compute the logarithmic negativity of two oscillators with arbitrary quadratic potential coupled by gravity. We find that unstable inverted oscillators generate gravity-induced entanglement most quickly and are most resistant to decoherence from environmental fluctuations. As an experimental realization, we propose a setup of the optical levitation of mirrors with the anti-spring effect. To avoid decoherence due to photon shot noise, a sandwich configuration that geometrically creates the anti-spring is promising.