Nonclassical correlations in the motion of dissociated Feshbach molecules

José Paulo D'Incao, Jason R. Willians

José Paulo D'Incao, Jason Williams

Clemens Gneiting, Klaus Hornberger

Hazel Cox

Clemens Gneiting

This thesis proposes two complementary scenarios to observe Bell correlations in the motion of two macroscopically separated material particles. Both are based on the gradual dissociation of ultracold Feshbach molecules and result in macroscopic delocalizations of the single-atom states. By giving a full account of these scenarios, including the coupled-channel description of the Feshbach dissociation, the optically guided dispersive propagation, interferometric processing and the final position measurements, I demonstrate for both cases their potential to violate a Bell inequality under experimentally viable conditions that correspond to delocalizations and interatomic separations on the order of centimeters.

Clemens Gneiting, Klaus Hornberger

We present a scheme to establish nonclassical correlations in the motion of two macroscopically separated massive particles without resorting to entanglement in their internal degrees of freedom. It is based on the dissociation of a diatomic molecule with two temporally separated Feshbach pulses generating a motional state of two counterpropagating atoms that is capable of violating a Bell inequality by means of correlated single-particle interferometry. We evaluate the influence of dispersion on the Bell correlation, showing it to be important but manageable in a proposed experimental setup. The latter employs Bose-Einstein condensation of fermionic lithium atoms, uses laser-guided atom interferometry, and seems to be within the reach of present-day technology.