Gravity seemed to require complete freedom to create quantum entanglement between particles. New work refutes this limitation: the protocols work even in rigidly fixed systems, such as carbon nanotubes, preserving the entanglement phase with only small corrections.
A group of researchers published the results on 28 September 2026 in the peer-reviewed journal of the American Physical Society. The scientists modeled and analyzed the behavior of two massive objects placed in nanotubes, where mechanical constraints prevent free fall. Instead, the gravitational interaction induced entanglement, and the phase was preserved with corrections not exceeding a few percent.
Entanglement here is a state in which measuring one particle instantly determines the state of another, regardless of distance. In nanotubes, this resembles two dancers connected by invisible threads: even if their movements are constrained by the walls of the hall, the rhythm remains synchronized, only slightly faltering from bumps against the barriers.
The experiment expands the possibilities for testing the quantum nature of gravity. Previously, such tests required conditions of weightlessness or free fall, as in space missions. Now laboratory setups with nanostructures suffice, which makes verification more accessible and more repeatable.
The results, published in the peer-reviewed APS publication on 28 September 2026, show that small corrections do not destroy the effect but merely refine it. This opens the way to ground-based experiments where gravity exhibits quantum features without complex infrastructure.
Thus, quantum gravity is coming closer to the everyday laboratory, rather than remaining the preserve of orbital stations.
