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Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics

Puzzling aspects of Young interference and spontaneous intrinsic decoherence

Rodolfo Bonifacio, Stefano Olivares

Published Aug 1, 2002• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss the single-particle Young interference experiment in position space, showing its close relation with the time-dependent Schrodinger spread. In the two-slit case there is always a maximum at the centre of the screen. Here we demonstrate that, with three slits, one can have zero intensity (at the centre) for discrete values of the spacing between the slits and of the distance of the screen. Finally, we show the possibility that spontaneous intrinsic decoherence destroys the interference pattern and that decoherence becomes stronger at the macroscopic limit.

DOI
10.1088/1464-4266/4/4/301

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We discuss the single-particle Young interference experiment in position space, showing its close relation with the time-dependent Schrodinger spread. In the two-slit case there is always a maximum at the centre of the screen. Here we demonstrate that, with three slits, one can have zero intensity (at the centre) for discrete values of the spacing between the slits and of the distance of the screen. Finally, we show the possibility that spontaneous intrinsic decoherence destroys the interference pattern and that decoherence becomes stronger at the macroscopic limit.
Unlike the usual interference experiment with two slits separated in space, a time double-slit experiment uses the equivalent of a single slit covered by a shutter that is opened and closed and then quickly opened and closed again. Such experiments have recently been performed, providing further confirmation of wave-particle duality. In either type of experiment, the wave function beyond the slit(s) initially has two peaks that then spread and interfere. This article derives the results of these experiments in a schematic, but analytic solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with appropriate initial conditions. In the space double-slit case, in addition to the transverse interference pattern, the time evolution at a fixed position exhibits an oscillating transient behavior similar to that obtained in the time double-slit experiment. Finally, the schematic model also reproduces the observed progressive visibility of the interference pattern obtained as a movable mask is displaced in front of the double-slit.
Abstract The standard interpretation of Young’s double slit experiment is that the light behaves as waves before and after passing through the diaphragm of the double slit. Recently, the convex lens has been utilized to study the behavior of photons near the diaphragm. The experiments show that, within certain macroscopic distance, the pattern is the particle pattern, e.g., the non-interference pattern, and that the non-interference pattern gradually evolve to the interference pattern. In this article, we show that, in the double slit experiments, the particle pattern (non-interference pattern) and interference pattern emerge on the screen simultaneously. It is the challenge to interpret this phenomenon.
A coherent superposition of two Gaussian wavepackets, which freely evolves in time, gives rise to an interference pattern similar to that of the single-particle double-slit Young's experiment. In this paper we show that fringe visibility can be reduced by spontaneous decoherence, which can also destroy quantum coherence when interaction between a system and its surroundings can be neglected. This decoherence is due to fluctuations in the evolution time and, in general, cannot be achieved when simple classical averages are considered. We compare our theoretical results with a C 60 fullerenes interference experiment, where thermal decoherence is not relevant, but the fringe visibility is actually reduced.
3.1 Interference of a Single Photon The kinds of study originally conducted by Thomas Young - in particular, the celebrated "double slit" experiment that we briefly examined in Chapter 1 (see Fig. 1) - provide a capacity to reveal far more than the wave nature of light, important as that is. True enough, the observed characteristic fringe pattern, when monochromatic light passes through two closely spaced slits onto a screen, appears to be simply explicable on the basis of waves from each slit undergoing constructive and destructive interference at different positions on the screen. Yet, astonishingly, these patterns of interference are still exhibited when individual photons of a low-intensity input beam reach the screen one at a time, showing that it cannot in fact be a matter of different photons having to interfere with each other. Indeed, Dirac enunciated the general principle that photons can never directly interact with each other. The double slit and other such experiments indicate that each photon interacts in a delocalized, wave-like manner with both slits at the same time. Successive experiments build interference patterns that conform to an exact mathematical distribution formula, but the position at which an individual photon is detected in any particular instance cannot be predicted; this is a quintessential illustration of quantum uncertainty. Using the path integral approach of quantum theory, the phenomenon is more accurately represented by introducing a summation over all possible routes between the source and the screen on which the pattern appears, signifying an entire "lifetime" for each photon involved in the experiment. This relates to the fact that the actual trajectory is unknown without an observation, and thus we only obtain the probabilities of the photon striking the screen at different positions and times; all trajectories (potentialities) must be considered in a superposition. Each route is considered equally probable, and the variation in phase produces quantum interference. The differences in phase of each trajectory, at varying positions on the screen, generates the fringe pattern. An intriguing variation on this experiment involves "marking" the photons so that the actual route of each photon to the screen is known. Remarkably, in such a case, the fringe patterns do not appear because quantum interference cannot occur. A consequence of the observation of the photon route is an effect that, in other quantum mechanical connections, is known as a collapse of the wavefunction. However, it is possible for the fringe patterns to reappear when information on the route of the photons is lost; this is known as a quantum eraser.
Abstract The standard interpretation of Young’s double slit experiment is that the light behaves as waves before and after passing through the diaphragm of the double slit. There is one primary maximum intensity at the central position of the interference pattern. Recently, the photon chamber has been proposed and utilized to study the behavior of photons near the detecting screen. The experiments show that the light, near the screen, behaves as photons propagating along the straight-line trajectories that distribute as waves. Furthermore, the photon chamber placed near the double slit shows non-interference pattern. In this article we show how the non-interference pattern evolving gradually to the interference pattern: (1) at 50 mm from the diaphragm of the double slit, the non-interference pattern shows and has two primary maximum intensities (Figure on left); (2) at 150 mm, there are two shape-changed maximum intensities (Figure at middle); (3) at 400 mm, the non-interference pattern evolves to the regular interference pattern (Figure on right). Those phenomena provide information for theoretical development.