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Chinese Physics B

Wave–particle duality relation with a quantum N-path beamsplitter*

Dongyang Wang, Junjie Wu, Yizhi Wang, Yong Liu, Anqi Huang, Chun-Lin Yu, Xuejun Yang

Published Mar 2, 2021• 0 citations

Abstract

The wave–particle duality relation derived by Englert sets an upper bound of the extractable information from wave and particle properties in a two-path interferometer. Surprisingly, previous studies demonstrated that the introduction of a quantum beamsplitter in the interferometer could break the limitation of this upper bound, due to interference between wave and particle states. Along the other line, a lot of efforts have been made to generalize this relation from the two-path setup to the N-path case. Thus, it is an interesting question that whether a quantum N-path beamsplitter can break the limitation as well. This paper systemically studies the model of a quantum N-path beamsplitter, and finds that the generalized wave–particle duality relation between interference visibility and path distinguishability is also broken in certain situations. We further study the maximal extractable information’s reliance on the interference between wave and particle properties, and derive a quantitative description. We then propose an experimental methodology to verify the break of the limitation. Our work reflects the effect of quantum superposition on wave–particle duality, and exhibits a new aspect of the relation between visibility and path distinguishability in N-path interference. Moreover, it implies the observer’s influence on wave–particle duality.

DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/abeb0f

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The wave–particle duality relation derived by Englert sets an upper bound of the extractable information from wave and particle properties in a two-path interferometer. Surprisingly, previous studies demonstrated that the introduction of a quantum beamsplitter in the interferometer could break the limitation of this upper bound, due to interference between wave and particle states. Along the other line, a lot of efforts have been made to generalize this relation from the two-path setup to the N-path case. Thus, it is an interesting question that whether a quantum N-path beamsplitter can break the limitation as well. This paper systemically studies the model of a quantum N-path beamsplitter, and finds that the generalized wave–particle duality relation between interference visibility and path distinguishability is also broken in certain situations. We further study the maximal extractable information’s reliance on the interference between wave and particle properties, and derive a quantitative description. We then propose an experimental methodology to verify the break of the limitation. Our work reflects the effect of quantum superposition on wave–particle duality, and exhibits a new aspect of the relation between visibility and path distinguishability in N-path interference. Moreover, it implies the observer’s influence on wave–particle duality.

According to the relevant theories on duality relation, the summation of the extractable information of a quanton’s wave and particle properties, which are characterized by interference visibility V and path distinguishability D, respectively, is limited. However, this relation is violated upon quantum superposition between the wave-state and particle-state of the quanton, which is caused by the quantum beamsplitter (QBS). Along another line, recent studies have considered quantum coherence C in the l1-norm measure as a candidate for the wave property. In this study, we propose an interferometer with a quantum which-path detector (QWPD) and examine the generalized duality relation based on C. We find that this relationship still holds under such a circumstance, but the interference between these two properties causes the full-particle property to be observed when the QWPD system is partially present. Using a pair of polarization-entangled photons, we experimentally verify our analysis in the two-path case. This study extends the duality relation between coherence and path information to the quantum case and reveals the effect of quantum superposition on the duality relation.

Quantum Fisher information (QFI) plays an important role in quantum metrology, placing the ultimate limit to how precise we can estimate some unknown parameter and thus quantifying how much information we can extract. We observe that both the wave and particle properties within a Mach–Zehnder interferometer can naturally be quantified by QFI. Firstly, the particle property can be quantified by how well one can estimate the a priori probability of the path taken by the particle within the interferometer. Secondly, as the interference pattern is always related to some phase difference, the wave property can be quantified by how well one can estimate the phase parameter of the original state. With QFI as the unified figure of merit for both properties, we propose a more general and stronger wave-particle duality relation than the original one derived by Englert.

Wave-particle duality demonstrates a competition relation between wave and particle behavior for a particle going through an interferometer. This duality can be formulated as an inequality, which upper bounds the sum of interference visibility and path information. However, if the particle is entangled with a quantum memory, then the bound may decrease. Here, we find the duality relation between coherence and path information for a particle going through a multipath interferometer in the presence of a quantum memory, offering an upper bound on the duality relation which is directly connected with the amount of entanglement between the particle and the quantum memory.

We derive a generalized wave-particle duality relation for arbitrary multipath quantum interference phenomena. Beyond the conventional notion of the wave nature of a quantum system, i.e., the interference fringe visibility, we introduce a quantifier as the normalized quantum coherence, recently defined in the framework of quantum information theory. To witness the particle nature, we quantify the path distinguishability or the which-path information based on unambiguous quantum state discrimination. Then, the Bohr complementarity principle for multipath quantum interference can be stated as a duality relation between the quantum coherence and the path distinguishability. For two-path interference, the quantum coherence is identical to the interference fringe visibility, and the relation reduces to the well-known complementarity relation. The duality relation continues to hold in the case where mixedness is introduced due to possible decoherence effects.

Abstract Wave-particle duality demonstrates a competition relation between wave and particle behavior for a particle going through an interferometer. This duality can be formulated as an inequality, which upper bounds the sum of interference visibility and path information. However, if the particle is entangled with a quantum memory, then the bound may decrease. Here, we find the duality relation between coherence and path information for a particle going through a multipath interferometer in the presence of a quantum memory, offering an upper bound on the duality relation which is directly connected with the amount of entanglement between the particle and the quantum memory.

Wave-particle duality in multipath interference is fraught with issues despite substantial progress in recent years. It was experimentally shown that in certain specific conditions, getting path information in a multipath experiment can actually increase the visibility of interference. As a result, it was argued that in multipath interference experiments, visibility of interference and which-path information are not always complementary observables. In the present paper, an alternative wave-particle duality relation is presented, based on a sum of visibilities of interference from individual pairs of paths. This relation is always respected, even in the kinds of specific situations mentioned above. This sum of visibilities turns out to be related to a recently introduced measure of coherence. As one of the consequences, it provides an alternative way of experimentally measuring coherence in a multipath interference experiment. As another consequence, this relation suggests a simple way of measuring path-distinguishability in multipath interference. In addition, it resolves several outstanding issues concerning wave-particle duality in multipath interference.