Physics Dept Seminar

March 6, Thursday (*SPECIAL DAY*)

From Schrödinger's Cat to Dark Matter:

A New Perspective on Quantum Mechanics and Gravity in Our Expanding Universe

Prof. Tao Zhou

Dept. of Physics, NJIT

(Quantum Mechanics and Gravity)

Time: 11:45am-12:45pm with 11:30am teatime

Room: ECE 202

We have constructed a non-relativistic theory of quantum mechanics and gravity based on local modulus symmetry. Our theory has three main new features compared to conventional quantum mechanics and Newtonian gravity. They include a new quantum metric function needed to modify the complex conjugate of the wave function, a gravitational Poisson equation that accounts for part of the gravitational potential energy but not all, and a new background energy term in the quantum particle’s equation of motion. In an expanding universe, these theoretical features produce new effects that deviate from predictions of conventional quantum mechanics and Newtonian gravity. The quantum metric function yields negligible change for microscopic objects but produces quantum pointer states for macroscopic objects, thus providing a solution to the quantum measurement problem, i.e., the Schrödinger's cat problem. The extra term in the gravitational potential energy is negligible in smaller bound systems but can become dominant at the galactic scales. Its potential association with the mass discrepancy problem in the galaxies, i.e., the dark matter problem, is discussed. The new background energy term turns out to be with as the Hubble constant. It has a peculiar numerical value related to the Planck energy density and the current estimate of the dark energy.