Kolenderski Piotr, Scarcella Carmelo, Johnsen Kelsey D, Hamel Deny R, Holloway Catherine, Shalm Lynden K, Tisa Simone, Tosi Alberto, Resch Kevin J, Jennewein Thomas
Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Grudziadzka 5, 87-100 Torun, Poland.
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2014 Apr 28;4:4685. doi: 10.1038/srep04685.
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.
双缝实验惊人地展示了量子物体的波粒二象性。在这个著名的实验中，粒子逐个穿过一对狭缝，并在远处的屏幕上被探测到。在许多离散的粒子撞击之后，会出现一种明显的类似波的图案，就好像每个粒子都同时穿过了两条狭缝并与自身发生干涉。在此，我们展示了使用单光子对双缝干涉图案进行时间和空间分辨的测量。我们将单光子发送通过一个双折射双缝装置，并使用单光子探测器的线性阵列来观察逐渐形成的干涉图案。对积累过程的分析使我们能够比较量子力学和微粒模型，后者旨在解释单粒子干涉的奥秘。最后，我们将纠缠对中的一个光子发送通过我们的双缝装置，并展示所得干涉图案对孪生光子测量状态的依赖性。我们的结果为双缝实验中积累过程的动力学提供了新的见解，并且可作为量子信息应用中的宝贵资源。
