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arXiv:2212.01449

Pinhole interference in three-dimensional fuzzy space

Dario Trinchero, Frederik G. Scholtz

Published Dec 2, 2022• 0 citations

Abstract

We investigate a quantum-to-classical transition which arises naturally within the fuzzy sphere formalism for three-dimensional non-commutative quantum mechanics. This transition may be understood as the mechanism of decoherence, but without requiring an additional external heat bath. We focus on treating a two-pinhole interference configuration within this formalism, as it provides an illustrative toy model for which this transition is readily observed and quantified. Specifically, we demonstrate a suppression of the quantum interference effects for objects passing through the pinholes with sufficiently-high energies or numbers of constituent particles. Our work extends a similar treatment of the double slit experiment by Pittaway and Scholtz (2021) within the two-dimensional Moyal plane, only it addresses two key shortcomings that arise in that context. These are, firstly that the interference pattern in the Moyal plane lacks the expected reflection symmetry present in the pinhole setup, and secondly that the quantum-to-classical transition manifested in the Moyal plane occurs only at unrealistically high velocities and/or particle numbers. Both of these issues are solved in the fuzzy sphere framework.

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.01449

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We investigate a quantum-to-classical transition which arises naturally within the fuzzy sphere formalism for three-dimensional non-commutative quantum mechanics. This transition may be understood as the mechanism of decoherence, but without requiring an additional external heat bath. We focus on treating a two-pinhole interference configuration within this formalism, as it provides an illustrative toy model for which this transition is readily observed and quantified. Specifically, we demonstrate a suppression of the quantum interference effects for objects passing through the pinholes with sufficiently-high energies or numbers of constituent particles. Our work extends a similar treatment of the double slit experiment by Pittaway and Scholtz (2021) within the two-dimensional Moyal plane, only it addresses two key shortcomings that arise in that context. These are, firstly that the interference pattern in the Moyal plane lacks the expected reflection symmetry present in the pinhole setup, and secondly that the quantum-to-classical transition manifested in the Moyal plane occurs only at unrealistically high velocities and/or particle numbers. Both of these issues are solved in the fuzzy sphere framework.

Abstract We explore a possible link between the structure of space at short length scales and the emergence of classical phenomena at macroscopic scales. To this end we adopt the paradigm of non-commutative space at short length scales and explicitly compute the outcomes of a double slit experiment and a von Neumann measurement in the non-commutative plane. A very consistent picture of a continuous quantum-to-classical transition emerges. The mechanism driving this transition is standard decoherence, which arises quite naturally from the tensor product structure of the non-commutative quantum Hilbert space. The double slit calculation enables us to establish a lower bound on the non-commutative parameter for this transition to become effective at particle numbers of the order of Avogadro’s number. Similarly, the result of the von Neumann measurement establishes a criterion involving the non-commutative parameter, apparatus size and coupling between system and apparatus for classicality to emerge.

The double-slit experiment is the most direct demonstration of interference between individual quantum objects. Since similar experiments with more slits produce interference fringes reducible to a combination of double-slit patterns it is usually argued that quantum interference occurs between pairs of trajectories, compactly denoted as second-order interference. Here we show that quantum mechanics in fact allows for interference of arbitrarily high order. This occurs naturally when one considers multiple quantum objects interacting in the presence of a nonlinearity. We make this clear by treating a generalised M-slit interferometer using second-quantisation. We then present explicit experimentally-relevant examples both with photons interacting in nonlinear media and an interfering Bose-Einstein condensate with particle-particle interactions. These examples are all perfectly described by quantum theory, and yet exhibit higher-order interference.

This preprint presents a theoretical and numerical investigation of quantum interference patterns in double-slit experiments under relativistic conditions. The study examines how quantum decoherence manifests across three distinct relativistic regimes (β=0.01, β=0.53, and β=0.999) using the GKSL (Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad) dephasing model. The paper demonstrates that as particles approach light speed, the visibility of interference fringes decreases dramatically due to increased quantum decoherence, with visibility dropping from approximately 1.0 at low velocities to 0.33 at β=0.999. This work contributes to our understanding of the interplay between quantum mechanics and special relativity, with implications for quantum information processing and fundamental physics.

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which "path" the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels.