Searching New Particles at Neutrino Telescopes with Quantum-Gravitational Decoherence

Abstract

We discuss the interplay of wave packet decoherence and decoherence induced by quantum gravity via interactions with spacetime foam for high energy astrophysical neutrinos. In this context we point out a compelling consequence of the expectation that quantum gravity should break global symmetries, namely that quantum-gravity induced decoherence may not only be the most sensitive probe for quantum properties of spacetime, but also can provide both a powerful tool for the search for new particles, including totally decoupled backgrounds interacting only gravitationally, and at the same time a window into the intricacies of black hole information processing.

Comments: 25 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in Physical Review D