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arXiv:2503.10709

Decoherence-free measurement of wavefunction collapse with interferometers in quantum superpositions

Garrelt Quandt-Wiese

Published Mar 12, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

A novel approach for measuring wavefunction collapse is proposed which, unlike interferometric measurements, is not affected by decoherence. A mirror of a Michelson interferometer is transferred into a quantum superposition, where the decay of the mirror superposition is measured by the fact that it affects the probability of detecting photons in the interferometer. The experiment can be realised with currently available technology for photon generation and detection and is suitable for testing collapse models, which is shown by calculating the expected outcomes for the gravity-based models of Diósi and Penrose.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2503.10709

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A novel approach for measuring wavefunction collapse is proposed which, unlike interferometric measurements, is not affected by decoherence. A mirror of a Michelson interferometer is transferred into a quantum superposition, where the decay of the mirror superposition is measured by the fact that it affects the probability of detecting photons in the interferometer. The experiment can be realised with currently available technology for photon generation and detection and is suitable for testing collapse models, which is shown by calculating the expected outcomes for the gravity-based models of Diósi and Penrose.
It is explained that, in an N-slit experimental configuration the so called ‘collapse of the wave function’ is an unnecessary concept. The explanation begins going back to the original words of Heisenberg on the reduction of the wave packet and continues while considering the measurement process in an N-slit interferometer. In this regard, it is articulated that a clean and direct transition from the superposition probability amplitude to the probability distribution is all that is needed. The discussion includes measurable decoherence in the interferometric domain and the Diósi-Penrose hypothesis.
It is explained that, in an N-slit experimental configuration the so called ‘collapse of the wave function’ is an unnecessary concept. The explanation begins going back to the original words of Heisenberg on the reduction of the wave packet and continues while considering the measurement process in an N-slit interferometer. In this regard, it is articulated that a clean and direct transition from the superposition probability amplitude to the probability distribution is all that is needed. The discussion includes measurable decoherence in the interferometric domain and the Diósi-Penrose hypothesis.
It is explained that, in an N-slit experimental configuration the so called ‘collapse of the wave function’ is an unnecessary concept. The explanation begins going back to the original words of Heisenberg on the reduction of the wave packet and continues while considering the measurement process in an N-slit interferometer. In this regard, it is articulated that a clean and direct transition from the superposition probability amplitude to the probability distribution is all that is needed. The discussion includes measurable decoherence in the interferometric domain and the Diósi-Penrose hypothesis.
Wavefunction collapse is a puzzling aspect of quantum mechanics. Designing a test to confirm the instantaneousness of collapse has turned out to be challenging, especially for collapse in configuration space. We propose a test using two identical, non-local, correlated photons in an interferometer in which a post-selection measurement of one of the photons in its location changes the statistical behavior of the other photon, which is an arbitrarily large distance away, and thus its detectable subsequent behavior. Analysis of the resulting correlations constitutes a test of the instantaneousness (or non-instantaneousness) of collapse. Connections to some of the recent proposed models of collapse are discussed
For special single-photon detectors that are isolated from their environment during detection (so-called indirect detectors), it is investigated how long they stay in a superposition of a photon-detected and a no-photon-detected state according to the Diósi–Penrose criterion for wavefunction collapse. To suppress interactions with the environment during detection, the avalanche photodiodes of the indirect detectors are biased using plate capacitors rather than conventional voltage sources, and the detection outcome is read out a sufficient time after the superposition in the detector has reduced. For the analysis, the Diósi–Penrose criterion is applied to solids in quantum superpositions that are slightly displaced relative to each other or have slightly different expansions in the superposed states, where both the parameter-free Diósi–Penrose model and Diósi’s version, in which the microscopic mass distribution is spatially averaged, are discussed. It is shown that indirect single-photon detectors can be constructed in such a way that they remain in superposition for seconds. It is proposed to use indirect detectors for the generation of mirror superpositions with the help of piezo-actuators, where the superposed mirror can have a displacement of about 50 Å for approximately half a microsecond. Even though the superposed mirror states generated in this way are decoherent superpositions (improper mixtures) and therefore cannot be detected by conventional methods, their generation opens new perspectives for probing wavefunction collapse.