Entanglement dynamics of photon pairs and quantum memories in the gravitational field of the earth

Quantum 8, 1273 (2024).

https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2024-02-29-1273

We investigate the effect of entanglement dynamics due to gravity – the basis of a mechanism of universal decoherence – for photonic states and quantum memories in Mach-Zehnder and Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry setups in the gravitational field of the earth. We show that chances are good to witness the effect with near-future technology in Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry. This would represent an experimental test of theoretical modeling combining a multi-particle effect predicted by the quantum theory of light and an effect predicted by general relativity. Our article represents the first analysis of relativistic gravitational effects on space-based quantum memories which are expected to be an important ingredient for global quantum communication networks.