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Springer eBooks

Atomic Physics with Relativistic Beams

H. C. Bryant, Kenneth B. Butterfield, David A. Clark, Charles A. Frost, J. B. Donahue, P. A. M. Gram, M. E. Hamm, Robert W. Hamm, W. W. Smith

Published Jan 1, 1981• 12 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4615-9206-8_2

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On an Atom-Interferometer Test of the Speed of Collapse of Wavefunctions in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

Hans C. Ohanian

I propose to resolve the controversy over the speed of collapse of quantum-mechanical wavefunctions by means of an experimental test with a modified symmetric Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, with non-intersecting, parallel, widely separated final beams. According to the conventional collapse scenario, the coherent twin-peak atomic wavefunction in the beams of the interferometer suffers an instantaneous collapse, at infinite speed, when the atom is captured by one of the two detectors at the ends of the beams, but it remains coherent until that instant. In contrast, according to the Hellwig-Kraus relativistic collapse scenario, the wavefunction collapses at the speed of light, backward in time along the past light cone of each detector. This leads to a premature collapse, or pre-collapse, which for a beam-to-beam separation of 3 m extends over a time span of 10 ns before arrival at the detectors. Within this time span the paired wavepackets in the two beams will be incoherent. The difference between the coherent wavepackets of the conventional scenario and the incoherent wavepackets of the relativistic scenario can be tested by probing the atomic beams with a transverse laser beam crossing them near the detectors. If the paired atomic wavepackets in the two beams are coherent, the light scattered by the two beams will also be coherent and generate a standing light wave in the space between the beams, with detectable interference fringes. If the paired wavepackets are incoherent, no such interference fringes will be generated, and the distribution of the scattered light will be that of two independent dipoles. The design parameters for this test seem to lie within reach of the techniques of atom interferometry.

arXiv:1311.5840•Nov 22, 2013•0 citations
This work focuses on fundamental theoretical and experimental aspects of relativistic beam physics, recoil, and cooling phenomena in atomic and ion beams and traps, emphasizing coherence and collective effects. The physics of atomic laser and free electron laser, and the development of a bridge between them through the mechanism of the so-called recoil induced gain mechanism, is also examined, as are the links between relativistic beam physics and atomic laser physics. Topics include: laser cooling of trapped ions; optical lattices; spatio-temporal instabilities in optical systems; coherence in atom optics; coherent population trapping; two-level gain and collective recoil-induced effects; high-gain free electron laser - theory, experiments and projects; cooling of ion beams in a storage ring; and experiments on dense laser-cooled stored ion beams.
The spectral distribution seen by an atom crossing a monochromatic Gaussian TEM00 beam with a relativistic speed normal to the direction of propagation of the beam is shown to be independent of the distance between the atom’s path and the position of the beam’s minimum waist. The dependence of the transition probability on the beam coordinates is also given. Finally, it is shown that the spectral width can be viewed as being due to the angular distribution of the plane waves of which the Gaussian TEM00 beam is composed.
I propose to resolve the controversy over the speed of collapse of quantum-mechanical wavefunctions by means of an experimental test with a modified symmetric Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, with non-intersecting, parallel, widely separated final beams. According to the conventional collapse scenario, the coherent twin-peak atomic wavefunction in the beams of the interferometer suffers an instantaneous collapse, at infinite speed, when the atom is captured by one of the two detectors at the ends of the beams, but it remains coherent until that instant. In contrast, according to the Hellwig-Kraus relativistic collapse scenario, the wavefunction collapses at the speed of light, backward in time along the past light cone of each detector. This leads to a premature collapse, or pre-collapse, which for a beam-to-beam separation of 3 m extends over a time span of 10 ns before arrival at the detectors. Within this time span the paired wavepackets in the two beams will be incoherent. The difference between the coherent wavepackets of the conventional scenario and the incoherent wavepackets of the relativistic scenario can be tested by probing the atomic beams with a transverse laser beam crossing them near the detectors. If the paired atomic wavepackets in the two beams are coherent, the light scattered by the two beams will also be coherent and generate a standing light wave in the space between the beams, with detectable interference fringes. If the paired wavepackets are incoherent, no such interference fringes will be generated, and the distribution of the scattered light will be that of two independent dipoles. The design parameters for this test seem to lie within reach of the techniques of atom interferometry.