Experiment to test the quantum uncertainty relation with thermal light

Hui Wang, Jun-Li Li, Shuang Wang +2 more

Hans A. De Raedt, Kristel F. L. Michielsen

Results from a discrete-event simulation of a recent single-neutron experiment that tests Ozawa's generalization of Heisenberg's uncertainty relation are presented. The event-based simulation algorithm reproduces the results of the quantum theoretical description of the experiment but does not require the knowledge of the solution of a wave equation, nor does it rely on detailed concepts of quantum theory. In particular, the data from these non-quantum simulations satisfy uncertainty relations derived in the context of quantum theory.

Shuang Wang, Fang-Xia Meng, Hui Wang +1 more

The uncertainty relation lies at the heart of quantum theory and behaves as a non-classical constraint on the indeterminacies of incompatible observables in a system. In the literature, many experiments have been devoted to the test of the uncertainty relations which mainly focus on the pure states. In this work we test the novel majorization uncertainty relations of three incompatible observables using a series of mixed states with adjustable mixing degrees, and compare the compactness of various entropy uncertainty relations. The experimental results confirm that for general mixed quantum system, the majorization uncertainty relation tends to be the tightest constraint on uncertainty, and indicate that the entropy uncertainty relation obtained from the majorization uncertainty relation is the optimal one. Our experimental setup provides an easy means for preparing mixed states, and based on this simple optical elements can be utilized to realize the required quantum states.

Muhammad Waseem, Faizan-e-Ilahi, Muhammad Sabieh Anwar

Jaroslav Řeháček, Zdeněk Bouchal, Radek Čelechovský +2 more

We rederive uncertainty relations for the angular position and momentum of a particle on a circle by employing the exponential of the angle instead of the angle itself, which leads to circular variance as a natural measure of resolution. Intelligent states minimizing the uncertainty product under the constraint of a given uncertainty in angle or in angular momentum turn out to be given by Mathieu wave functions. We also discuss a number of physically feasible approximations to these optimal states. The theory is applied to the orbital angular momentum of a beam of photons and verified in an experiment that employs computer-controlled spatial light modulators at both the state preparation and analyzing stages.

A. Mann, M. Revzen, Hiroomi Umezawa +1 more