Optomechanical Superposition Lifetimes: Thermal, Gas and Collapse Contributions Computed Side by Side
This paper places thermal, and collapse-model contributions to the decoherence of a nanomechanical superposition side by side under identical assumptions. For an oscillator of 1e-14 kilograms at ten millikelvin with quality factor 1e+08, the total lifetime is 7.638e-02 seconds; at four kelvin with quality factor 1e+06 it shortens to 1.910e-06 seconds. The collapse contribution alone is 1.497e-14 per second for the stated separation. Thermal decoherence dominates in both operating points, so an optomechanical test of collapse models must first win the thermal battle; the numbers show by how much. The study is simulated and computed from stated assumptions; it is not a measurement.
Authors
- William Alexander Aldred (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1215-577X)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-11-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24145354
- Primary Topic
- Mechanical and Optical Resonators
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00