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    Gravitational effects on Hong-Ou-Mandel interference in a terrestrial laboratory

    Xuan Ye1,2,*, Yang Zhang2,†, and Bo Wang2,‡

    • *Contact author: yexuan@cuhk.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: yzh@ustc.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: ymwangbo@ustc.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. D 112, 064074 – Published 24 September, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/lyvz-sb6r

    Abstract

    In this study, we investigate how Earth’s gravitational field affects Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference experiments conducted in a terrestrial laboratory. To second order, we calculate the relativistic time delay from the null geodesic equation (particle perspective), while the phase shift and the associated effective time delay are derived from the Klein-Gordon equation (wave perspective). Since gravity influences both the temporal and spatial parts of the phase shift, these two time delays differ and lead to different coincidence probabilities. The previous HOM experiment conducted on a rotating platform suggests that the wave perspective can explain the experimental results. We further explore the frame dragging and redshift effects in an arbitrarily oriented rectangular interferometer under two distinct scenarios with different photon paths, measuring one effect in each scenario. We find that both effects can be amplified by increasing the number of light loops. Additionally, we emphasize that the next-to-leading order Sagnac effect, arising from gravitational acceleration, is comparable to the Thomas precession, the geodetic effect, and the Lense-Thirring effect. To detect the leading order Sagnac effect and the redshift effect caused by gravitational acceleration, we estimate the number of loops that photons should travel in the interferometer. Furthermore, we propose that the difference between two HOM patterns can be used as a probe to detect gravitational effects on quantum systems.

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