Gravitationally-induced wave function collapse time for molecules

Abstract

The Diósi–Penrose model states that the wave function collapse ending a quantum superposition occurs due to the instability of coexisting gravitational potentials created by distinct geometric conformations of the system in different states. The Heisenberg time-energy principle can be invoked to estimate the collapse time for the energy associated with this instability, the gravitational self-energy. This paper develops atomistic models to calculate the Diósi–Penrose collapse time. It applies them to a range of systems, from small molecules to large biological structures and macroscopic systems. An experiment is suggested to test the Diósi–Penrose hypothesis, and we critically examine the model, highlighting challenges from an atomistic perspective, such as gravitational self-energy saturation and limited extensivity.