Where should we look for the deviation from quantum mechanics?
quant-ph, hep-ex, hep-th, math-ph, math.MP
Submitted: 2026-10-17
Updated: 2026-10-17
Comments: 11 pages
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: We argue that the experimental measurement of the lifetime and decay law of metastable helium is a promising way to find a deviation from quantum mechanics.
Abstract
We argue that the experimental measurement of the lifetime and decay law of metastable helium is a promising way to find a deviation from quantum mechanics. We analyze the decay of the metastable state for a quartic deformation of quantum mechanics. We find that the absolute change of the mean lifetime can be significant even if the modification is small. We show that, in the Wigner--Weisskopf approximation, the deviation from the exponential law in the modified theory can occur on time scales comparable with the lifetime.
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