Testing Quantum Coherence in Stochastic Electrodynamics with Squeezed Schr\"{o}dinger Cat States
Abstract
The interference pattern in electron double-slit diffraction is a hallmark of quantum mechanics. A long standing question for stochastic electrodynamics (SED) is whether or not it is capable of reproducing such effects, as interference is a manifestation of quantum coherence. In this study, we use excited harmonic oscillators to directly test this quantum feature in SED. We use two counter-propagating dichromatic laser pulses to promote a ground-state harmonic oscillator to a squeezed Schr\"{o}dinger cat state. Upon recombination of the two well-separated wavepackets, an interference pattern emerges in the quantum probability distribution but is absent in the SED probability distribution. We thus give a counterexample that rejects SED as a valid alternative to quantum mechanics.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2011.12910,
title = {Testing Quantum Coherence in Stochastic Electrodynamics with Squeezed Schr\"{o}dinger Cat States},
author = {Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang and Herman Batelaan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2011.12910},
year = {2021}
}