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arXiv:0712.1606 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Computer simulation of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment with photons

Shuang Zhao, Shengjun Yuan, Hans A. De Raedt, Kristel F. L. Michielsen

Published May 1, 2008• 19 citations
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Abstract

We present a computer simulation model of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment that is a one-to-one copy of an experiment reported recently (V. Jacques {\sl et al.}, Science 315, 966 (2007)). The model is solely based on experimental facts, satisfies Einstein's criterion of local causality and does not rely on any concept of quantum theory. Nevertheless, the simulation model reproduces the averages as obtained from the quantum theoretical description of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment. Our results prove that it is possible to give a particle-only description of Wheeler's delayed choice experiment which reproduces the averages calculated from quantum theory and which does not defy common sense.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/82/40004

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We present a computer simulation model that is a one-to-one copy of a quantum eraser experiment with photons (P. D. D. Schwindt {\sl et al.}, Phys. Rev. A 60, 4285 (1999)). The model is solely based on experimental facts, satisfies Einstein's criterion of local causality and does not require knowledge of the solution of a wave equation. Nevertheless, the simulation model reproduces the averages as obtained from the wave mechanical description of the quantum eraser experiment, proving that it is possible to give a particle-only description of quantum eraser experiments with photons. We demonstrate that although the visibility can be used as a measure for the interference, it cannot be used to quantify the wave character of a photon. The classical particle-like simulation model renders the concept of wave-particle duality, used to explain the outcome of the quantum eraser experiment with photons, superfluous.
We present a computer simulation model that is a one-to-one copy of a quantum eraser experiment with photons (P. D. D. Schwindt et al., Phys. Rev. A 60, 4285 (1999)). The model is solely based on experimental facts, satisfies Einstein's criterion of local causality and does not require knowledge of the solution of a wave equation. Nevertheless, the simulation model reproduces the averages as obtained from the wave mechanical description of the quantum eraser experiment, proving that it is possible to give a particle-only description of quantum eraser experiments with photons. We demonstrate that although the visibility can be used as a measure for the interference, it cannot be used to quantify the wave character of a photon. The classical particle-like simulation model renders the concept of wave-particle duality, used to explain the outcome of the quantum eraser experiment with photons, superfluous.
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Wave-particle duality has become one of the flagships of quantum mechanics. This counterintuitive concept is highlighted in a delayed-choice experiment, where the experimental setup that reveals either the particle or wave nature of a quantum system is decided after the system has entered the apparatus. Here we consider delayed-choice experiments from the perspective of device-independent causal models and show their equivalence to a prepare-and-measure scenario. Within this framework, we consider Wheeler's original proposal and its variant using a quantum control and show that a simple classical causal model is capable of reproducing the quantum mechanical predictions. Nonetheless, among other results, we show that, in a slight variant of Wheeler's gedanken experiment, a photon in an interferometer can indeed generate statistics incompatible with any nonretrocausal hidden variable model, whose dimensionality is the same as that of the quantum system it is supposed to mimic. Our proposal tolerates arbitrary losses and inefficiencies, making it specially suited to loophole-free experimental implementations.
Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment investigates the indeterminacy of wave-particle duality and the role played by the measurement apparatus in quantum theory. Due to the inconsistency with classical physics, it has been generally believed that it is not possible to reproduce the delayed-choice experiment using a hidden-variable theory. Recently, it was shown that Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment can be explained by a causal two-dimensional hidden-variable theory [R. Chaves, G. B. Lemos, and J. Pienaar, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 190401 (2018)]. Here, we carry out a delayed-choice experiment by using photon states that are spacelike separated and demonstrate that the experiment is consistent with quantum theory but inconsistent with any causal two-dimensional hidden-variable theory in a device-independent manner. This demonstrates that causality can be used to test quantum theory in a complementary way to the Bell and Leggett-Garg tests.