Related papers: Decoherence in a Talbot Lau interferometer: the in…
We study C70 fullerene matter waves in a Talbot-Lau interferometer as a function of their temperature. While the ideal fringe visibility is observed at moderate molecular temperatures, we find a gradual degradation of the interference…
We demonstrate a near-field Talbot-Lau interferometer for C-70 fullerene molecules. Such interferometers are particularly suitable for larger masses. Using three free-standing gold gratings of one micrometer period and a transversally…
We present a theoretical framework to describe the effects of decoherence on matter waves in Talbot-Lau interferometry. Using a Wigner description of the stationary beam the loss of interference contrast can be calculated in closed form.…
We discuss matter wave experiments in a near-field interferometer and focus on dephasing phenomena due to inertial forces. Their presence may result in a significant reduction of the observed interference contrast, even though they do not…
We study the loss of spatial coherence in the extended wave function of fullerenes due to collisions with background gases. From the gradual suppression of quantum interference with increasing gas pressure we are able to support…
Matter-wave interferometry has been largely studied in the last few years. Usually, the main problem in the analysis of the diffraction experiments is to establish the causes for the loss of coherence observed in the interference pattern.…
We discuss a novel application of matter wave interferometry to characterize the scalar optical polarizability of molecules at 532 nm. The interferometer presented here consists of two material absorptive gratings and one central optical…
Recent progress in matter-wave interferometry aims to directly probe the quantum properties of matter on ever increasing scales. However, in order to perform interferometric experiments with massive mesoscopic objects, taking into account…
Emergent quantum technologies have led to increasing interest in decoherence - the processes that limit the appearance of quantum effects and turn them into classical phenomena. One important cause of decoherence is the interaction of a…
Research on matter waves is a thriving field of quantum physics and has recently stimulated many investigations with electrons, neutrons, atoms, Bose-condensed ensembles, cold clusters and hot molecules. Coherence experiments with complex…
We investigate the suppression of matter-wave Talbot interference under environmentally induced decoherence. The system is modeled as an atomic beam diffracted by a periodic grating, whose transverse dynamics is described within the…
We study the decoherence of a system of $N$ non-interacting heavy particles (atoms) due to coherent scattering with a background gas. We introduce a framework for computing the induced phase shift and loss of contrast for arbitrary…
We discuss recent advances towards matter-wave interference experiments with free beams of metallic and dielectric nanoparticles. They require a brilliant source, an efficient detection scheme and a coherent method to divide the de Broglie…
Decoherence due to scattering from background gas particles is observed for the first time in a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, and compared with decoherence due to scattering photons. A single theory is shown to describe decoherence due…
High contrast matter-wave interferometry is essential in various fundamental quantum mechanical experiments as well as for technical applications. Thereby, contrast and sensitivity are typically reduced by decoherence and dephasing effects.…
Matter-wave interferometry with nanoparticles will enable the development of quantum sensors capable of probing ultraweak fields with unprecedented applications for fundamental physics. The high sensitivity of such devices however makes…
Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system looses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and…
Starting from an elementary model and refining it to take into account more realistic effects, we discuss the limitations and advantages of matter-wave interferometry in different configurations. We focus on the possibility to apply this…
We study how matter-wave interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates is affected by hypothetical collapse models and by environmental decoherence processes. Motivated by recent atom fountain experiments with macroscopic arm separations,…
A generalized description of Talbot-Lau interference with matter waves is presented, which accounts for arbitrary grating interactions and realistic beam characteristics. The dispersion interaction between the beam particles and the optical…