Quantum interference of "clocks", namely of particles with time-evolving internal degrees of freedom (DOFs), is a promising avenue to test genuine general relativistic effects in quantum systems. The clock acquires which path information while experiencing different proper times on traversing the arms of the interferometer, leading to a drop in its path visibility. We consider scenarios where the clock is subject to environmental noise as it transits through the interferometer. In particular, we develop a generalized formulation of interferometric visibility affected by noise on the clock. We find that, for small noise and small proper time difference between the arms, the noise further reduces the visibility, while in more general situations it can either increase or reduce the visibility. As an example, we investigate the effect of a thermal environment constituted by a single field mode and show that the visibility drops further as the temperature is increased. Additionally, by considering noise models based on standard quantum channels, we show that interferometric visibility can increase or decrease depending on the type of noise and also the time scale and transition probabilities. The quantification of the effect of noise on the visibility – particularly in the case of a thermal environment paves the way for a better estimate on the expected outcome in an actual experiment.

中文翻译：

---

环境对时钟干涉测量的影响

“时钟”的量子干涉，即具有随时间演化的内部自由度 (DOF) 的粒子，是测试量子系统中真正的一般相对论效应的有前途的途径。时钟在穿越干涉仪臂时经历不同的适当时间时获取哪些路径信息，导致其路径可见性下降。我们考虑时钟在通过干涉仪时会受到环境噪声的影响。特别是，我们开发了受时钟噪声影响的干涉能见度的广义公式。我们发现，对于较小的噪声和较小的臂之间的适当时间差，噪声会进一步降低能见度，而在更一般的情况下，它可以增加或降低能见度。举个例子，我们研究了由单场模式构成的热环境的影响，并表明随着温度的升高，能见度进一步下降。此外，通过考虑基于标准量子通道的噪声模型，我们表明干涉能见度可以根据噪声类型以及时间尺度和转移概率增加或减少。噪声对能见度影响的量化——尤其是在热环境的情况下，为在实际实验中更好地估计预期结果铺平了道路。我们表明干涉能见度可以根据噪声类型以及时间尺度和转换概率增加或减少。噪声对能见度影响的量化——尤其是在热环境的情况下，为在实际实验中更好地估计预期结果铺平了道路。我们表明干涉能见度可以根据噪声类型以及时间尺度和转换概率增加或减少。噪声对能见度影响的量化——尤其是在热环境的情况下，为在实际实验中更好地估计预期结果铺平了道路。