Gravitationally Induced Decoherence Tested with a Torsional Pendulum

Decoherence of a system, such as a massive object, arises from the system's interaction with its environment. There is a great interest in testing decoherence that may be caused by anomalous effects, including those suggested to occur due to gravitation. Such decoherence could provide bounds on predictions for various quantum approaches to gravity. We show here a preliminary torsional balance for an experiment that aims to test quantum decoherence by introducing the torsional pendulum as a gravitational source mass for trapped atoms. We characterize the preliminary pendulum, estimate key performance parameters including thermal limits to decoherence, and outline a path forward for future pendulums to meet the design requirements needed to test gravitationally induced decoherence effects.