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Quantum Measurement and Interference in Mixed Systems: Investigating the Cross-Effect of Observation on Different Particle Types

Nikita Neverovich

Published Jun 25, 2025• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This work proposes a novel variation of the double-slit experiment in which two different types of quantum particles — for example, electrons and photons — pass simultaneously through a shared double-slit apparatus. The primary objective is to test the hypothesis that the act of measurement may not only collapse the wave function of the observed particle, but could also influence the interference pattern of an unmeasured, co-propagating particle of a different type. In the proposed configuration, photons and electrons are emitted in synchrony and directed through the same set of slits. Immediately after the slits, a path-detecting measurement apparatus is applied only to one type of particle (e.g., photons), while the interference pattern of the other type (e.g., electrons) is recorded on a distant screen. The experiment is designed to explore whether the destruction of coherence through measurement is strictly local, or whether it can propagate to other particles through a shared medium, entangled fields, or an unknown interaction. If the unmeasured particle continues to display interference, this would support the locality of measurement effects. Conversely, if interference vanishes for both, it could indicate a more global or field-level decoherence process. This investigation aims to contribute new insights into the nature of quantum measurement, the role of observation, and the interdependence of coherent systems involving distinct particle species.

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The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. In this famous experiment, particles pass one-by-one through a pair of slits and are detected on a distant screen. A distinct wave-like pattern emerges after many discrete particle impacts as if each particle is passing through both slits and interfering with itself. Here we present a temporally- and spatially-resolved measurement of the double-slit interference pattern using single photons. We send single photons through a birefringent double-slit apparatus and use a linear array of single-photon detectors to observe the developing interference pattern. The analysis of the buildup allows us to compare quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model, which aims to explain the mystery of single-particle interference. Finally, we send one photon from an entangled pair through our double-slit setup and show the dependence of the resulting interference pattern on the twin photon's measured state. Our results provide new insight into the dynamics of the buildup process in the double-slit experiment, and can be used as a valuable resource in quantum information applications.

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Quantum Optics and Informatics

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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.

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The Double-Slit Experiment Reinterpreted: Matter-Wave Propagation and the Physical Mechanism of Quantum Interference

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The double-slit experiment has stood for a century as the paradigmatic demonstration of quantum superposition: the standard interpretation holds that a particle passes through both slits simultaneously, existing in a superposition of two spatially separated states. This paper proposes a physically distinct alternative: the particle's matter wave — a real physical wave propagating through space in accordance with de Broglie's relation λ = h/p — passes through both slits, while the particle itself (matter) remains in an undetermined state until a constructive interference maximum is formed at the detection screen. The particle does not simultaneously occupy two locations; the wave does. This distinction eliminates the need for superposition as an ontological commitment while fully reproducing the observed interference pattern. We further show that the disappearance of the interference pattern upon which-path measurement is explained without invoking wavefunction collapse: the measurement interaction redirects the matter wave to a single-slit geometry, eliminating the two-wave interference condition. Three experimentally testable predictions distinguish this framework from the standard interpretation: (1) weak-measurement trajectory reconstruction should reveal single particle paths inconsistent with simultaneous two-slit passage; (2) diffraction fringe spacing should depend on the mass density of the slit material, because denser slit edges generate a steeper refractive-index gradient for the matter wave; (3) the fringe pattern should exhibit a density-dependent phase shift measurable with current matter-wave interferometry technology. This reinterpretation requires no new mathematical formalism — the Schrödinger equation and Born's rule are retained — but replaces the ontological claim of simultaneous multi-location existence with the physically consistent picture of matter-wave propagation through an undetermined-state particle.

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Cross-Double-Slit Experiment and Delayed-Choice-Cross-Double-Slit Experiment

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We have performed cross-double-slit experiment and delayed-choice-cross-double-slit experiment, denoted as extended double-slit experiments. The cross-double-slit experiments show that the cross-double-slit apparatus creates not only two interference patterns, but also four cross-interference-patterns, which are created by two double-slit. The delayed-choice-cross-double-slit experiments disclose new phenomena: (1) photons behave as both wave and particle in the same experiment simultaneously, which violate Bohr’s complementarity; (2) the cross-interference-pattern is created by one double-slit and one single-slit; (3) photons passing through the same slit behave as both wave and particle, referred it as the Wave-Particle-Paradox, which demands extensive study. We suggest to re-study wave-particle duality.

•Jun 1, 2019•0 citations
This work proposes a novel variation of the double-slit experiment in which two different types of quantum particles — for example, electrons and photons — pass simultaneously through a shared double-slit apparatus. The primary objective is to test the hypothesis that the act of measurement may not only collapse the wave function of the observed particle, but could also influence the interference pattern of an unmeasured, co-propagating particle of a different type. In the proposed configuration, photons and electrons are emitted in synchrony and directed through the same set of slits. Immediately after the slits, a path-detecting measurement apparatus is applied only to one type of particle (e.g., photons), while the interference pattern of the other type (e.g., electrons) is recorded on a distant screen. The experiment is designed to explore whether the destruction of coherence through measurement is strictly local, or whether it can propagate to other particles through a shared medium, entangled fields, or an unknown interaction. If the unmeasured particle continues to display interference, this would support the locality of measurement effects. Conversely, if interference vanishes for both, it could indicate a more global or field-level decoherence process. This investigation aims to contribute new insights into the nature of quantum measurement, the role of observation, and the interdependence of coherent systems involving distinct particle species.
The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. In this famous experiment, particles pass one-by-one through a pair of slits and are detected on a distant screen. A distinct wave-like pattern emerges after many discrete particle impacts as if each particle is passing through both slits and interfering with itself. Here we present a temporally- and spatially-resolved measurement of the double-slit interference pattern using single photons. We send single photons through a birefringent double-slit apparatus and use a linear array of single-photon detectors to observe the developing interference pattern. The analysis of the buildup allows us to compare quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model, which aims to explain the mystery of single-particle interference. Finally, we send one photon from an entangled pair through our double-slit setup and show the dependence of the resulting interference pattern on the twin photon's measured state. Our results provide new insight into the dynamics of the buildup process in the double-slit experiment, and can be used as a valuable resource in quantum information applications.
The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which "path" the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels.
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.
We report observations of Cross-Double-Slit Experiment and Which-Path-Cross-Double-Slit experiment. Cross-Double-Slit apparatus contains two double-slit, where first double-slit is perpendicular to second double-slit. The first double-slit and the second double-slit generate not only their own interference pattern perpendicular to each other, but also generate “Cross-interference-patterns”. When we do which-way experiment with one of two double-slit, say first double-slit, then its interference pattern disappeared, i.e., photons behave as particles; but the second double-slit’s interference pattern and the cross-interference-pattern still exist; which implies an significant phenomenon that in the same experiment, photons behave as both wave and particle, which is first time caught on film. Thus we suggest to re-study wave-particle duality, which is the basic mystery of quantum mechanics. We postulate that the particle nature of photons is intrinsic; while the wave-like of photons is manifest-behavior.
The double-slit experiment has stood for a century as the paradigmatic demonstration of quantum superposition: the standard interpretation holds that a particle passes through both slits simultaneously, existing in a superposition of two spatially separated states. This paper proposes a physically distinct alternative: the particle's matter wave — a real physical wave propagating through space in accordance with de Broglie's relation λ = h/p — passes through both slits, while the particle itself (matter) remains in an undetermined state until a constructive interference maximum is formed at the detection screen. The particle does not simultaneously occupy two locations; the wave does. This distinction eliminates the need for superposition as an ontological commitment while fully reproducing the observed interference pattern. We further show that the disappearance of the interference pattern upon which-path measurement is explained without invoking wavefunction collapse: the measurement interaction redirects the matter wave to a single-slit geometry, eliminating the two-wave interference condition. Three experimentally testable predictions distinguish this framework from the standard interpretation: (1) weak-measurement trajectory reconstruction should reveal single particle paths inconsistent with simultaneous two-slit passage; (2) diffraction fringe spacing should depend on the mass density of the slit material, because denser slit edges generate a steeper refractive-index gradient for the matter wave; (3) the fringe pattern should exhibit a density-dependent phase shift measurable with current matter-wave interferometry technology. This reinterpretation requires no new mathematical formalism — the Schrödinger equation and Born's rule are retained — but replaces the ontological claim of simultaneous multi-location existence with the physically consistent picture of matter-wave propagation through an undetermined-state particle.
We have performed cross-double-slit experiment and delayed-choice-cross-double-slit experiment, denoted as extended double-slit experiments. The cross-double-slit experiments show that the cross-double-slit apparatus creates not only two interference patterns, but also four cross-interference-patterns, which are created by two double-slit. The delayed-choice-cross-double-slit experiments disclose new phenomena: (1) photons behave as both wave and particle in the same experiment simultaneously, which violate Bohr’s complementarity; (2) the cross-interference-pattern is created by one double-slit and one single-slit; (3) photons passing through the same slit behave as both wave and particle, referred it as the Wave-Particle-Paradox, which demands extensive study. We suggest to re-study wave-particle duality.