English

A Priori Which-Way Information in Quantum Interference with Unstable Particles

Quantum Physics 2014-07-28 v1

Abstract

If an unstable particle used in a two-path interference experiment decays before reaching a detector, which-way information becomes available which reduces the detected interference fringe visibility V{\cal V}. Here we argue that even when an unstable particle does {\em not} decay while in the interferometer, {\em a priori} which-way information is still available in the form of path predictability P{\cal P} which depends on the particle's decay rate Γ\Gamma. We further demonstrate that in a matter-wave Mach-Zehnder interferometer using an excited atom with an appropriately tuned cavity, P{\cal P} is related to V{\cal V} through the duality relation P2+V2=1{\cal P}^{2} + {\cal V}^{2} = 1.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1407.6762,
  title  = {A Priori Which-Way Information in Quantum Interference with Unstable Particles},
  author = {D. E. Krause and E. Fischbach and Z. J. Rohrbach},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.6762},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

7 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-06-22T05:12:50.719Z