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The photon: Experimental emphasis on its wave-particle duality

Yanhua H. Shih, Alexander V. Sergienko, Morton H. Rubin, Thomas E. Kiess, Carroll O. Alley

Published May 1, 1994• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Two types of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiments were demonstrated recently in our laboratory. It is interesting to see that in an interference experiment (wave-like experiment) the photon exhibits its particle property, and in a beam-splitting experiment (particle-like experiment) the photon exhibits its wave property. The two-photon states are produced from Type 1 and Type 2 optical spontaneous parametric down conversion, respectively.

DOI
10.13016/m2s7jd-bv7d

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In a recent article Jan Sperling, Syamsundar De, Thomas Nitsche, Johannes Tiedau, Sonja Barkhofen, Benjamin Brecht, and Christine Silberhorn discuss the wave-particle duality using an experiment to demonstrate that "neither the wave nor the particle description is sufficient to predict the utcomes of quantum-optical experiments." I would like to draw your attention to two previous papers that discuss feasible experiments in which a photon does not seem to behave either as particle or as wave and make some brief considerations on the topic.

arXiv:2103.05054•Mar 8, 2021•0 citations
Two types of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiments were demonstrated recently in our laboratory. It is interesting to see that in an interference experiment (wave-like experiment) the photon exhibits its particle property, and in a beam-splitting experiment (particle-like experiment) the photon exhibits its wave property. The two-photon states are produced from Type 1 and Type 2 optical spontaneous parametric down conversion, respectively.
Full text: We present two experiments on single- and two-particle interference. In the single-photon interference experiment, photons from a spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) source are send through a double slit. An interference pattern is built up frame by frame from shots obtained with an EMCCD camera behind the slit. Each frame contains on average less than one photon, thus demonstrating true single-photon sensitivity of the camera. The build-up of the interference pattern nicely demonstrates the concept of wave-particle duality. In a next step, we describe the Heisenberg's lens experiment and present the conditions required to analyse and investigate the spatial correlations of momentum entangled photons produced by SPDC. The occurrence of double-slit interference now depends on the experimental arrangement for the second photon of the pair, for example: interference can only occur if the second photon is also passing a double slit. We present an analysis of such a double-double-slit experiment. (author)
After a very brief review of the historical Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) experiments, a new two-photon interference type EPR experiment is reported. A two-photon state was generated by optical parametric down conversion. Pairs of light quanta with degenerate frequency but divergent directions of propagation were sent to two independent Michelson interferometers. First and second order interference effectors were studied. Different than other reports, we observed that the second order interference visibility vanished when the optical path difference of the interferometers were much less than the coherence length of the pumping laser beam. However, we also observed that the second order interference behaved differently depending on whether the interferometers were set at equal or different optical path differences.
Simultaneous entanglement in spin and space-time of a two-photon quantum state generated in type-2 spontaneous parametric down-conversion is demonstrated by the observation of quantum interference with 98% visibility in a simple beam-splitter (Hanburry Brown-Twiss) anticorrelation experiment. The nonlocal cancellation of two-photon probability amplitudes as a result of this double entanglement allows us to demonstrate two different types of Bell's inequality violations in one experimental setup.
An experiment on one-photon state localization in space using a correlation technique in Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC) process is discussed. Results of measurements demonstrate an idea of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox for coordinate and momentum variables of photon states. Results of the experiment can be explained with the help of an advanced wave technique. The experiment is based on the idea that two-photon states of optical electromagnetic fields arising in the nonlinear process of the spontaneous parametric down conversion (spontaneous parametric light scattering) can be explained by quantum mechanical theory with the help of a single wave function.
How can we construct a picture of the photon from the wealth of observation material available to us? The photon appears to have a split personality: it is neither a wave nor a particle but something else which, depending on the experimental situation, exhibits a wave- or a particle-like behavior. In other words, in the photon (as in material particles such as the electron) the particle–wave dualism becomes manifest. Whereas classically the wave and the particle pictures are separate, quantum mechanics accomplishes a formal synthesis through a unified mathematical treatment. Let us look first at the wave aspect familiar from classical electrodynamics, which seems to be the most natural description. It makes all the different interference phenomena understandable, such as the “interference of the photon with itself” on the one hand and the appearance of spatial and temporal intensity correlations in a thermal radiation field on the other (which are obviously brought about by superposition of elementary waves emitted independently from different atoms). It might come as a surprise (at least for those having quantum mechanical preconceptions) that the classical theory is valid down to arbitrarily small intensities: the visibility of the interference pattern does not deteriorate even for very small intensities – the zero point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field advocated by quantum mechanics do not have a disturbing effect – and is valid not only for conventional interference experiments but also for interference between independently generated light beams (in the form of laser light).
In a recent article Jan Sperling, Syamsundar De, Thomas Nitsche, Johannes Tiedau, Sonja Barkhofen, Benjamin Brecht, and Christine Silberhorn discuss the wave-particle duality using an experiment to demonstrate that "neither the wave nor the particle description is sufficient to predict the utcomes of quantum-optical experiments." I would like to draw your attention to two previous papers that discuss feasible experiments in which a photon does not seem to behave either as particle or as wave and make some brief considerations on the topic.