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  • Open Access

Wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation

Hudson A. Loughlin1,*, Germain Tobar2, Evan D. Hall1, and Vivishek Sudhir1,3,†

  • *Contact author: hudsonl@mit.edu
  • †Contact author: vivishek@mit.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043286 – Published 12 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6dzy-4c45

Abstract

In a consistent description of the quantum measurement process, whether the wave or particlelike aspect of a system is revealed depends on the details of the measurement chain, and cannot be interpreted as an objective fact about the system independent of the measurement. We show precisely how this comes to be in the measurement of gravitational radiation. Whether a wave or particlelike aspect is revealed is a property of the detector employed at the end of the quantum measurement chain, rather than of the meter, such as a gravitational-wave (GW) antenna or resonant bar, used to couple the radiation to the detector. A linear detector yields no signal for radiation in a Fock state and a signal proportional to the amplitude in a coherent state—supporting a wavelike interpretation. In contrast, the signal from a detector coupled to the meter's energy is nonzero only when the incident radiation contains at least a single graviton. Thus, conceptually simple modifications of contemporary GW antennae can reveal wave-particle duality in the measurement of gravitational radiation.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043286– Published 12 December, 2025
  • Received 15 April 2025
  • Accepted 13 November 2025
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