Quantum Erasure: Quantum Interference Revisited

نویسندگان

  • Stephen P. Walborn
  • Marcelo O. Terra Cunha
  • Sebastião Pádua
  • Carlos H. Monken
چکیده

It may be somewhat surprising that Thomas Young’s double-slit experiment a staple in the freshman physics laboratory would be such an invaluable testing ground for the foundations of quantum physics. Yet the quantum version of the double-slit experiment has been at the center of many debates over the fundamentals of quantum physics since the theory was born, nearly a century ago. In fact, Young’s experiment embodies the very nature of quantum physics. Last year, the readers of Physics World magazine voted Young’s double-slit experiment with electrons “the most beautiful experiment” in physics. The significance of Young’s experiment lies in the fact that interference is a phenomenon exhibited only by waves. The puzzle that quantum physics presents is that a particle, which is usually thought of as an indivisible, localized object, can also behave like a classical wave, which interferes and diffracts. In “the most beautiful experiment”, electrons pass through the slits like waves and are detected like particles! This interference behavior is perhaps the greatest mystery in quantum theory. In fact, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman has called quantum interference “the only mystery” in quantum physics. Recently, some progress has been made in the understanding of these interference effects within the foundations of quantum theory. Experiments called quantum erasers modified versions of Young’s experiment have shed light on the foundations of quantum physics. However, before we explain the notion of quantum erasure, we take a detour to explore the concept and the history of classical and quantum interference.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Coherent Control of Quantum Entropy via Quantum Interference in a Four-Level Atomic System

The time evaluation of quantum entropy in a four-level double- type atomic system is theoretically investigated. Quantum entanglement of the atom and its spontaneous emission fields is then discussed via quantum entropy. It is found that the degree of entanglement can be increased by the quantum interference induced by spontaneous emission. The phase dependence of the atom-field entanglement is...

متن کامل

Finding Electrostatics modes in Metal Thin Films by using of Quantum Hydrodynamic Model

In this paper, by using a quantum hydrodynamic plasma model which incorporates the important quantum statistical pressure and electron diffraction force, we present the corrected plasmon dispersion relation for graphene which includes a k quantum term arising from the collective electron density wave interference effects (which  is integer and constant and k is wave vector). The longitudinal ...

متن کامل

Electrostatics Modes in Mono-Layered Graphene

In this paper, we investigated the corrected plasmon dispersion relation for graphene in presence of a constant magnetic field which it includes a quantum term arising from the collective electron density wave interference effects. By using quantum hydrodynamic plasma model which incorporates the important quantum statistical pressure and electron diffraction force, the longitudinal plasmons ar...

متن کامل

Conductance in quantum wires by three quantum dots arrays

A noninteracting quantum-dot arrays side coupled to a quantum wire is studied. Transport through the quantum wire is investigated by using a noninteracting Anderson tunneling Hamiltonian. The conductance at zero temperature develops an oscillating band with resonances and antiresonances due to constructive and destructive interference in the ballistic channel, respectively. Moreover, we have fo...

متن کامل

Counterfactual quantum erasure: spooky action without entanglement

We combine the eyebrow-raising quantum phenomena of erasure and counterfactuality for the first time, proposing a simple yet unusual quantum eraser: A distant Bob can decide to erase which-path information from Alice's photon, dramatically restoring interference-without previously shared entanglement, and without Alice's photon ever leaving her laboratory.

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2008