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Quantum mechanical which-way experiment with an internal degree of freedom

Abstract

For a particle travelling through an interferometer, the trade-off between the available which-way information and the interference visibility provides a lucid manifestation of the quantum mechanical wave-particle duality. Here we analyse this relation for a particle possessing an internal degree of freedom such as spin. We quantify the trade-off with a general inequality that paints an unexpectedly intricate picture of wave-particle duality when internal states are involved. Strikingly, in some instances which-way information becomes erased by introducing classical uncertainty in the internal degree of freedom. Furthermore, even imperfect interference visibility measured for a suitable set of spin preparations can be sufficient to infer absence of which-way information. General results are illustrated with a proof-of-principle single-photon experiment

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DOI:
Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1038/ncomms3594
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Category:
Articles
Type:
artykuł w czasopiśmie wyróżnionym w JCR
Published in:
Nature Communications no. 4, pages 1 - 7,
ISSN: 2041-1723
Language:
English
Publication year:
2013
Bibliographic description:
Banaszek K., Horodecki P., Karpiński M., Radzewicz C.: Quantum mechanical which-way experiment with an internal degree of freedom// Nature Communications. -Vol. 4, nr. 2594 (2013), s.1-7
DOI:
Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.1038/ncomms3594
Verified by:
Gdańsk University of Technology

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