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arXiv:quant-ph/0307160 · Physical Review A

Analysis of the loss of coherence in interferometry with macromolecules

Andrea Viale, M. Vicari, Nino Zanghı̀

Published Dec 18, 2003• 44 citations
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Abstract

We provide a self-contained quantum description of the interference produced by macromolecules diffracted by a grating, with particular reference to fullerene interferometry experiments. We analyze the processes inducing loss of coherence consisting in beam preparation (collimation setup and thermal spread of the wavelengths of the macromolecules) and in environmental disturbances. The results show a good agreement with experimental data and highlight the analogy with optics. Our analysis gives some hints for planning future experiments.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.68.063610

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We provide a self-contained quantum description of the interference produced by macromolecules diffracted by a grating, with particular reference to fullerene interferometry experiments. We analyze the processes inducing loss of coherence consisting in beam preparation (collimation setup and thermal spread of the wavelengths of the macromolecules) and in environmental disturbances. The results show a good agreement with experimental data and highlight the analogy with optics. Our analysis gives some hints for planning future experiments.
Summary form only given, as follows. In a recent experiment we were able to demonstrate the de Broglie wave character of the fullerene molecule C/sub 60/ by diffraction at a free standing material grating. This proves that it is possible to preserve quantum coherence almost completely in the external degrees of freedom of a hot, massive and complex object over a long time and distance. This may seem astonishing in the light of the fact that the fullerenes were produced in a thermal source which was kept at about 900 K. At such a high temperature the de Broglie wavelength is about 400 times smaller than the size of the molecule (/spl lambda//sub dB//spl sim/25 pm), all internal degrees of freedom (174 different vibrational modes, and rotational modes up to J>100) are excited and the molecules may emit a few infrared photons (blackbody radiation and vibrational quanta) during their time of flight through the apparatus. Our published measurements so far have been essentially consistent with the absence of decoherence during the time of flight of the molecules. The interference contrast in all experiments has however so far been limited by the thermal velocity spread and the finite collimation of the fullerene beam.
Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons. © World Scientific Publishing Company.
Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons.
Matter-wave interferometry has been largely studied in the last few years. Usually, the main problem in the analysis of the diffraction experiments is to establish the causes for the loss of coherence observed in the interference pattern. In this work, we use different type of environmental couplings to model a two slit diffraction experiment with massive particles. For each model, we study the effects of decoherence on the interference pattern and define a visibility function that measures the loss of contrast of the interference fringes on a distant screen. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental reported data on massive particles C 70 .