English

Quantum mechanical which-way experiment with an internal degree of freedom

Quantum Physics 2013-11-04 v1

Abstract

For a particle travelling through an interferometer, the trade-off between the available which-way information and the interference visibility provides a lucid manifestation of the quantum mechanical wave-particle duality. Here we analyze this relation for a particle possessing an internal degree of freedom such as spin. We quantify the trade-off with a general inequality that paints an unexpectedly intricate picture of wave-particle duality when internal states are involved. Strikingly, in some instances which-way information becomes erased by introducing classical uncertainty in the internal degree of freedom. Furthermore, even imperfect interference visibility measured for a suitable set of spin preparations can be sufficient to infer absence of which-way information. General results are illustrated with a proof-of-principle single photon experiment.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1311.0017,
  title  = {Quantum mechanical which-way experiment with an internal degree of freedom},
  author = {Konrad Banaszek and Pawel Horodecki and Michal Karpinski and Czeslaw Radzewicz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1311.0017},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

8 pages, 3 figures