%0 Journal Article %1 Penrose1996Gravitys %A Penrose, R. %D 1996 %I Springer Netherlands %J General Relativity and Gravitation %K quantum gravity %N 5 %P 581--600 %R 10.1007/bf02105068 %T On Gravity's role in Quantum State Reduction %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02105068 %V 28 %X The stability of a quantum superposition of two different stationary mass distributions is examined, where the perturbing effect of each distribution on the space-time structure is taken into account, in accordance with the principles of general relativity. It is argued that the definition of the time-translation operator for the superposed space-times involves an inherent ill-definedness, leading to an essential uncertainty in the energy of the superposed state which, in the Newtonian limit, is proportional to the gravitational self-energyE <SUB>Delta</SUB> of the difference between the two mass distributions. This is consistent with a suggested finite lifetime of the order of h/E <SUB>Delta</SUB> for the superposed state, in agreement with a certain proposal made by the author for a gravitationally induced spontaneous quantum state reduction, and with closely related earlier suggestions by Di&\#243;si and by Ghirardiet al.

@article{Penrose1996Gravitys, abstract = {{The stability of a quantum superposition of two different stationary mass distributions is examined, where the perturbing effect of each distribution on the space-time structure is taken into account, in accordance with the principles of general relativity. It is argued that the definition of the time-translation operator for the superposed space-times involves an inherent ill-definedness, leading to an essential uncertainty in the energy of the superposed state which, in the Newtonian limit, is proportional to the gravitational self-energyE <SUB>Delta</SUB> of the difference between the two mass distributions. This is consistent with a suggested finite lifetime of the order of h/E <SUB>Delta</SUB> for the superposed state, in agreement with a certain proposal made by the author for a gravitationally induced spontaneous quantum state reduction, and with closely related earlier suggestions by Di\&\#243;si and by Ghirardiet al.}}, added-at = {2013-09-09T23:59:35.000+0200}, author = {{Penrose}, R.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/242a139495e43e80069dd867d7d45b024/jacksankey}, citeulike-article-id = {7676318}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02105068}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib\_query?bibcode=1996GReGr..28..581P}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.springerlink.com/content/k75046wh3668l654}, day = 1, doi = {10.1007/bf02105068}, interhash = {fa73d6216b428575290c7686db1c4647}, intrahash = {42a139495e43e80069dd867d7d45b024}, issn = {0001-7701}, journal = {General Relativity and Gravitation}, keywords = {quantum gravity}, month = may, number = 5, pages = {581--600}, posted-at = {2010-10-15 19:28:14}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, timestamp = {2013-09-11T14:37:11.000+0200}, title = {{On Gravity's role in Quantum State Reduction}}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf02105068}, volume = 28, year = 1996 }