Wavefunction collapse models modify Schrodinger's equation so that it
describes the rapid evolution of a superposition of macroscopically
distinguishable states to one of them. This provides a phenomenological basis
for a physical resolution to the so-called "measurement problem." Such models
have experimentally testable differences from standard quantum theory. The most
well developed such model at present is the Continuous Spontaneous Localization
(CSL) model in which a fluctuating classical field interacts with particles to
cause collapse. One "side effect" of this interaction is that the field imparts
momentum to particles, causing a small blob of matter to undergo random walk.
Here we explore this in order to supply predictions which could be
experimentally tested. We examine the translational diffusion of a sphere and a
disc, and the rotational diffusion of a disc, according to CSL. For example, we
find that a disc of radius 2 cdot 10^{-5} cm and thickness 0.5 cdot 10^{-5} cm
diffuses through 2 pi rad in about 70sec (this assumes the "standard" CSL
parameter values). The comparable rms diffusion of standard quantum theory is
smaller than this by a factor 10^-3. At the reported pressure of < 5
cdot10^{-17} Torr, achieved at 4.2^{circ} K, the mean time between air molecule
collisions with the disc is approximately 45min (and the diffusion caused by
photon collisons is utterly negligible). This is ample time for observation of
the putative CSL diffusion over a wide range of parameters.
This encourages consideration of how such an experiment may actually be
performed, and the paper closes with some thoughts on this subjectComment: 27 pages, 2 figure
