On gravity as an entropic force

Abstract

We consider E. Verlinde's proposal that gravity is an entropic force -- we shall call this theory entropic gravity (EG) -- and reanalyze a recent claim that this theory is in contradiction with the observation of the gravitationally-bound ground state of neutrons in the GRANIT experiment. We find that EG does not necessarily contradict the existence of gravitationally-bound quantum states of neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field, since EG is equivalent to Newtonian gravity in this case. However, certain transitions between the gravitationally-bound quantum states of neutrons, in particular spontaneous decays of excited states, which can hopefully be observed in future experiments, cannot be explained in the framework of EG, unless essential ingredients are introduced into it. Otherwise, a quantized description of gravity will be required.

6 pages, v2: the possibility that graviton may appear as an emergent concept in EG is noted, few improvements in arguments and presentation, some typos and grammar corrected. To appear in Phys. Lett. B

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