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Quantum Delayed-Choice Experiment and Wave-Particle Superposition

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Abstract

We propose a simple implementation scheme of quantum delayed-choice experiment in linear optical system without initial entanglement resource. By choosing different detecting devices, one can selectively observe the photon’s different behaviors after the photon has been passed the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The scheme shows that the photon’s wave behavior and particle behavior can be observed with a single experimental setup by postselection, that is, the photon can show the superposition behavior of wave and particle. Especially, we compare the wave-particle superposition behavior and the wave-particle mixture behavior in detail, and find the quantum interference effect between wave and particle behavior, which may be helpful to reveal the nature of photonessentially.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 61465013, 11465020 and 11264042; the Program for Chun Miao Excellent Talents of Jilin Provincial Department of Education under Grant No. 201316; and the Talent Program of Yanbian University of China under Grant No. 950010001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Qi Guo, Liu-Yong Cheng & Shou Zhang

  2. Department of Physics, College of Science, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin 133002, People’s Republic of China

    Hong-Fu Wang & Shou Zhang

Authors
  1. Qi Guo
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  2. Liu-Yong Cheng
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  3. Hong-Fu Wang
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  4. Shou Zhang
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Correspondence to Shou Zhang.

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Guo, Q., Cheng, LY., Wang, HF. et al. Quantum Delayed-Choice Experiment and Wave-Particle Superposition. Int J Theor Phys 54, 2517–2523 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-014-2482-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-014-2482-1

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