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Computational nanotechnology

Quantum coherence and supertunneling effect: Wave and particle nature of quantum objects in the Mach–Zehnder interferometer

R.KH. RAKHIMOV, Vladimir Petrovich Yermakov

Published Nov 2, 2025• 1 citation

Abstract

The article examines the wave and corpuscular nature of quantum objects using the example of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer and discusses the possibility of the so-called “supertunnel effect”. It is shown how the behavior of a photon in an interferometer is determined not by switching between a wave and a particle, but by the preservation or loss of coherence of its quantum amplitude. Key mechanisms are analyzed: formation of superposition at the beam splitter, interference from coherent amplitude recombination, decoherence induced by path information leakage, and recovery of interference in quantum-eraser schemes. Analogous phenomena for electrons, neutrons, atoms and large molecules are discussed, with attention to dominant decoherence sources (collisions, thermal radiation, internal degrees of freedom) and the shrinking de Broglie wavelength of massive objects. The influence of mass, momentum and barrier parameters on tunneling probability is treated, and practical strategies to enhance tunneling (barrier engineering, resonant tunneling, collective effects, and reducing effective mass) are outlined. The conclusion is that quantum laws are universal: wave-like and particle-like manifestations depend on the experimental context and coherence preservation rather than an intrinsic conversion of the object. The concept of “supertunneling” is framed as potentially realizable only if decoherence and exponential suppression can be overcome, with suggested routes for experimental pursuit.

DOI: 10.33693/2313-223x-2025-12-3-184-190

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A distinct method to show a quantum object behaving both as wave and as particle is proposed and described in some detail. We make a systematic analysis using the elementary methodology of quantum mechanics upon Young's two-slit interferometer and the Mach—Zehnder two-arm interferometer with the focus placed on how to measure the interference pattern (wave nature) and the which-way information (particle nature) of quantum objects. We design several schemes to simultaneously acquire the which-way information for an individual quantum object and the high-contrast interference pattern for an ensemble of these quantum objects by placing two sets of measurement instruments that are well separated in space and whose perturbation of each other is negligibly small within the interferometer at the same time. Yet, improper arrangement and cooperation of these two sets of measurement instruments in the interferometer would lead to failure of simultaneous observation of wave and particle behaviors. The internal freedoms of quantum objects could be harnessed to probe both the which-way information and the interference pattern for the center-of-mass motion. That quantum objects can behave beyond the wave—particle duality and the complementarity principle would stimulate new conceptual examination and exploration of quantum theory at a deeper level.

We show that a quantum particle subjected to a positive force in one path of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a null force in the other path may receive a negative average momentum transfer when it leaves the interferometer by a particular exit. In this scenario, an ensemble of particles may receive an average momentum in the opposite direction of the applied force due to quantum interference, a behavior with no classical analogue. We discuss some experimental schemes that could verify the effect with current technology, with electrons or neutrons in Mach-Zehnder interferometers in free space and with atoms from a Bose-Einstein condensate.

A very simple (therefore strong) argument, grounded in the action reaction principle, predicts the existence of isolated quantum, de Broglie waves.In this article I propose an experimental set up able to detect these quantum waves.As far as quantum waves are associated to any kind of elementary particles, massive or massless, charged or neutral, etc., its character is probably gravitational, i.e., they are micro-gravitational waves.The quantum wave is isolated when a particle can follow two (or more) alternative paths which later on can rejoin and interfere.We know that the corpuscular particle follows one path while the wave follows both.This wave could perturb a laser beam, and this perturbation could be detected in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

A quantum system can behave as a wave or as a particle, depending on the experimental arrangement. When, for example, measuring a photon using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the photon acts as a wave if the second beam splitter is inserted, but as a particle if this beam splitter is omitted. The decision of whether or not to insert this beam splitter can be made after the photon has entered the interferometer, as in Wheeler's famous delayed-choice thought experiment. In recent quantum versions of this experiment, this decision is controlled by a quantum ancilla, while the beam splitter is itself still a classical object. Here, we propose and realize a variant of the quantum delayed-choice experiment. We configure a superconducting quantum circuit as a Ramsey interferometer, where the element that acts as the first beam splitter can be put in a quantum superposition of its active and inactive states, as verified by the negative values of its Wigner function. We show that this enables the wave and particle aspects of the system to be observed with a single setup, without involving an ancilla that is not itself a part of the interferometer. We also study the transition of this quantum beam splitter from a quantum to a classical object due to decoherence, as observed by monitoring the interferometer output.