title: Explaining recurring maser flares in the ISM through large-scale entangled quantum mechanical states.
abstract: We apply Dicke's theory of superradiance (introduced in 1954) to the 6.7-GHz methanol and 22-GHz water spectral lines, often detected in molecular clouds as signposts for the early stages of the star formation process. We suggest that superradiance, characterized by burst-like features taking place over a wide range of time scales, may provide a natural explanation for the recent observations of periodic and seemingly alternating methanol and water maser flares in G107.298+5.639. Although these observations would be very difficult to explain within the context of maser theory, we show that these flares may result from simultaneously initiated 6.7-GHz methanol and 22-GHz water superradiant bursts operating on different time scales, thus providing a natural mechanism for their observed durations and time ordering. The evidence of superradiance in this source further suggests the existence of entangled quantum mechanical states, involving a very large number of molecules, over distances of up to a few kilometers in the interstellar medium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rajabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.; Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Houde
keywords: Astronomical masers; Entangled quantum mechanical states; Superradiance