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arXiv:1207.2206 · Physical Review A

Scheme for directly observing the noncommutativity of the position and the momentum operators with interference

Jong Chan Lee, Yong‐Su Kim, Young-Sik Ra, Hyang‐Tag Lim, Yoon-Ho Kim

Published Oct 12, 2012• 2 citations
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Abstract

Although noncommutativity of a certain set of quantum operators (e.g., creation and annihilation operators and Pauli spin operators) has been shown experimentally in recent years, the commutation relation for the position and the momentum operators has not been directly demonstrated to date. In this paper we propose and analyze an experimental scheme for directly observing the noncommutativity of the position and the momentum operators using single-photon quantum interference. While the scheme is studied for the single-photon state as the input quantum state, the analysis applies equally to matter-wave interference, allowing a direct test of the position-momentum commutation relation with a massive particle.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.86.042112

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Although noncommutativity of a certain set of quantum operators (e.g., creation and annihilation operators and Pauli spin operators) has been shown experimentally in recent years, the commutation relation for the position and the momentum operators has not been directly demonstrated to date. In this paper we propose and analyze an experimental scheme for directly observing the noncommutativity of the position and the momentum operators using single-photon quantum interference. While the scheme is studied for the single-photon state as the input quantum state, the analysis applies equally to matter-wave interference, allowing a direct test of the position-momentum commutation relation with a massive particle.
We propose an experiment to directly prove the commutation relation between bosonic annihilation and creation operators, based on the recent experimental success in single-photon subtraction and addition. We devise a single-photon interferometer to realize coherent superpositions of two sequences of photon addition and subtraction. Depending on the interference outcome, the commutation relation is directly proven or a highly nonclassical state is produced. Experimental imperfections are assessed to show that the realization of the scheme is highly feasible.
Since the wavefunction of a photon only describes the probability of photon detection in time and space, it is impossible to derive uniquely defined trajectories describing the path taken by the photon between emission and detection. However, it is possible to test whether a particular set of trajectories is consistent with the statistics observed at different times for photons in the same initial state. Recently, I have shown that quantum interference effects between position and momentum can result in a violation of inequalities associated with motion along straight lines. Here, I present a more detailed analysis on the origin of the effect and its relation with other experimentally observable aspects of quantum statistics such as weak measurements and quantum tomography. It is shown that the interference pattern between a quantum state component of well-defined position and a quantum state component of well-defined momentum describes a modified causality relation between the positions detected at different times. The phase of the interference pattern is identified with the classical action of particle motion and the relation between uncertainty and causality is considered. The specific case of single photon wavefunctions is used to explain the possibilities and limitations of control at the ultimate quantum limit.
We present the experimental realization of a scheme, based on single-photon interference, for implementing superpositions of distinct quantum operations. Its application to a thermal light field (a well-categorized classical entity) illustrates quantum superposition from a new standpoint and provides a direct and quantitative verification of the bosonic commutation relation between creation and annihilation operators. By shifting the focus towards operator superpositions, this result opens interesting alternative perspectives for manipulating quantum states.
We have recently realized experimental schemes to implement the action of single-photon creation and annihilation operators onto completely classical and fully incoherent thermal light states (Parigi et al 2007 Science 317 1890). By applying alternated sequences of the creation and annihilation operators we observed that the resulting states depend on the order in which the two quantum operators are applied, thus obtaining the most direct experimental test of non-commutativity. Here we provide an extensive and detailed discussion of the main experimental issues related to the realization of these schemes.