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Physica Scripta

Intermode Traces ? Fundamental Interference Phenomenon in Quantum and Wave Physics

A. E. Kaplan, P. Stifter, K. A. H. van Leeuwen, Willis E. Lamb, Wolfgang P. Schleich

Published Jan 1, 1998• 45 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Highly regular spatio-temporal or multi-dimensional patterns in the quantum mechanical probability or classical field intensity distributions can appear due to pair interference between individual eigen-modes of the system forming the so called intermode traces. These patterns are strongly pronounced if the intermode traces are multi-degenerate. This phenomenon occurs in many areas of wave physics.

DOI
10.1238/physica.topical.076a00093

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Highly regular spatio-temporal or multi-dimensional patterns in the quantum mechanical probability or classical field intensity distributions can appear due to pair interference between individual eigen-modes of the system forming the so called intermode traces. These patterns are strongly pronounced if the intermode traces are multi-degenerate. This phenomenon occurs in many areas of wave physics.
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Optical interference is regarded as a classical phenomenon and is usually completely described in classical terms, in which optical fields are represented by classical waves. Does it mean that optical interference, which is fundamentally ascribable to the phenomenon of a superposition of wave amplitudes, cannot be applied to test quantum phenomena? The superposition principle is at the heart of quantum physics and one could expect that it should distinguish the quantum nature of light from thewave nature. Our experience based on extensive theoretical analysis and experimental observations shows that classical and quantum theories of optical interference readily explain the presence of an interference pattern resulting from the first-order coherence. However, there are interference effects involving the higher order (second-order) coherence that distinguish the quantum (photon) nature of light from the wave nature. Quantum interference has recently returned to prominence because of its utility in manipulating spontaneous emission and other radiative properties of atomic systems. In this chapter, we present elementary concepts and definitions of both the classical and quantum theory of optical interference and discuss similarities and differences between these two approaches [80].
The phenomenon of matter-wave interference lies at the heart of quantum physics. It has been observed in various contexts in the limit of non-interacting particles as a single-particle effect. Here we observe and control matter-wave interference whose evolution is driven by interparticle interactions. In a multi-path matter-wave interferometer, the macroscopic many-body wave function of an interacting atomic Bose–Einstein condensate develops a regular interference pattern, allowing us to detect and directly visualize the effect of interaction-induced phase shifts. We demonstrate control over the phase evolution by inhibiting interaction-induced dephasing and by refocusing a dephased macroscopic matter wave in a spin-echo-type experiment. Our results show that interactions in a many-body system lead to a surprisingly coherent evolution, possibly enabling narrow-band and high-brightness matter-wave interferometers based on atom lasers.
The multimode interference technique is a simple way to study the interference patterns found in many quantum probability distributions. We demonstrate that this analysis not only explains the existence of so-called "quantum carpets," but can explain the spatial distribution of channels and ridges in the carpets. With an understanding of the factors that govern these channels and ridges we have a limited ability to produce a particular pattern of channels and ridges by carefully choosing the weighting coefficients c_{n} . We also use these results to demonstrate why fractional revivals of initial wavepackets are themselves composed of many smaller packets.
Abstract Quantum interference plays a central role in the realm of quantum particles, revealing their wave‐like nature and probabilistic behavior. It relies on the concept of superposition, where the probability amplitudes of different processes that contribute to the given phenomenon interfere with each other. When combined, their phases can interfere either constructively or destructively. Quantum interference manifests in three distinct forms: optical interference, arising from the interaction of light waves and forming the basis for technologies such as lasers and optical filters; interference via atoms, which involves manipulating atomic states to control light–matter interactions and enables techniques like Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage and Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in quantum information processing; and interference of atoms with themselves, in which the matter waves of single atoms interfere with each other, as employed in precision measurements such as atom interferometry–a crucial tool for applications in quantum mechanics and precision navigation. These diverse forms of quantum interference have profound implications for numerous scientific disciplines, demonstrating that interference can involve particles beyond just photons.