S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Guwahati and University of Stellenbosch researchers are delving into one of the most profound mysteries in physics — the quantum nature of gravity. There is more to it than meets the eye.
The research, led by Dr. Bibhas Ranjan Majhi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physics at IIT Guwahati, and Dr. Partha Nandi of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, focuses on gravity-induced entanglement (GIE).
This phenomenon has the potential to bridge two of the biggest pillars of modern science: general relativity and quantum mechanics, say sources from IIT Guwahati.
Their work aims to understand how gravity behaves at incredibly small scales, such as those of atoms and subatomic particles, where existing theories start to unravel.
Findings
The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious journal ‘Physics Letters B.’
Frameworks
Physics currently operates under two separate frameworks. Albert Einstein’s general relativity explains how gravity works for massive objects like planets and stars, describing gravity as the curvature of space and time around these objects, say sources from IIT Guwahati.
On the other hand, quantum mechanics governs the behavior of particles on the atomic and subatomic levels. While both theories excel in their respective domains, they fail to align when it comes to explaining how gravity functions at the quantum level.
This disconnect has left a significant gap in our understanding, one that researchers hope to address through the pursuit of quantum gravity, say sources from IIT Guwahati.
Approach
Dr. Majhi and Dr. Nandi’s research takes an innovative approach by studying how gravity might lead to entanglement, a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two particles become linked, such that the state of one affects the other, regardless of the distance between them.
The concept of gravity-induced entanglement proposes that under certain conditions, gravitational forces may create this quantum connection, revealing a quantum aspect of gravity.
Discussion
Discussing the research, Dr. Majhi explained, “We have developed a theoretical framework that connects a two-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator with gravitational waves—ripples in space-time caused by massive objects like black holes.
This approach bypasses the limitations of classical communication methods and explores whether quantized gravitational waves can induce entanglement, said Dr Majhi of IIT Guwahati.
Our findings show that while classical gravitational waves do not generate entanglement, the quantum version of these waves does, at the second order of gravitational perturbation, he said.
Implications
This research has far-reaching implications. If gravity-induced entanglement can be detected using gravitational wave detectors, it could provide the first evidence that gravity operates at a quantum level, say sources from IIT Guwahati.
Such a discovery could unlock other cosmic mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy — two enigmatic components that make up most of the universe but are still poorly understood.
Step forward
Dr. Majhi and Dr. Nandi’s work represents a significant step forward in the quest to understand the quantum nature of gravity.
Their research not only advances the search for quantum gravity but also lays the foundation for future discoveries, potentially uniting our understanding of the universe’s largest and smallest elements.
About IIT Guwahati
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, established in 1994, completed 25 years of glorious existence in 2019. At present, the Institute has eleven departments, nine interdisciplinary academic centres and five schools.
They are covering all the major engineering, science, healthcare, management, and humanities disciplines, offering BTech, BDes, BSc(Hons), MA, MDes, MTech, MSc, MS(R), MBA and PhD programmes.
The institute offers a residential campus to 439 faculty members and more than 8,600 students at present. IIT Guwahati has retained the 7th position among the best engineering institutions of the country, 9th position in ‘Overall’ and 10th position in ‘Research’ Categories in the ‘India Rankings 2024’ declared by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Ministry of Education.
IIT Guwahati has achieved rank 87 in the SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2024 and is the only academic institution in India that occupied a place among the top 100 world universities – under 50 years of age – ranked by London-based Times Higher Education (THE) in 2014.
It continues to maintain its superior position even today in various International Rankings. IIT Guwahati gained rank 32 globally in the ‘Research Citations per Faculty’ category and overall 344 rank in the QS World University Rankings 2025.
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Among other frontier areas of research and innovation, IIT Guwahati is working towards augmenting critical science research initiatives in Genomics, Developmental Biology, Health Care and Bioinformatics and Flexible Electronics, among numerous other areas.