| Name: Prasad Basu |
| Affiliation: Cotton University |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_1025 |
| Title: Quantum Signatures of Modified Gravity: An Investigation into Graviton-Induced Noise and Decoherence |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: High Energy Phenomena, Fundamental Physics and Astronomy |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Prasad Basu(Department of physics, Cotton University), Joyous Jyoti Medhi(Department of physics, Cotton university), Soumen Mondal(Department of physics, Jadavpur University), Partha Nandi(Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: Recent studies have shown that quantized gravitational waves can induce intrinsic noise and decoherence arising purely from the quantum nature of gravity, potentially observable with future space-based detectors such as LISA or DECIGO. This opens a new avenue for probing quantum gravitational effects at energies far below the Planck scale. In this work, we use this technique to investigate quantum signatures of modified gravity through graviton-induced noise and decoherence within f(R) gravity. Using a novel technique proposed in recent studies. We quantize the theory in the weak-field limit and identify a distinctive signature associated with the additional scalar degree of freedom. Vacuum solutions of f(R) gravity admit a non-vanishing scalar curvature R, and linearization around such backgrounds yields an extra longitudinal gravitational-wave mode. Upon quantization, the corresponding scalar particle (the scalaron) appears alongside the transverse tensor graviton modes.
A variety of classical tests using gravitational wave observations have been proposed to assess the validity of alternative theories of gravity relative to Einstein’s general relativity at very strong gravity regime. In this work, we present a complementary approach by probing modified theories at the quantum level. Within the effective field theory framework, quantized gravity at low energies is expected to emerge from the quantization of the correct classical theory of gravity. Consequently, the detection of a distinctive quantum signature associated with a specific gravitational theory would provide evidence for its validity as the appropriate effective classical description of gravity. |
