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A possible solution to the which-way problem of quantum interference

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Abstract

It is commonly assumed that the observation of an interference pattern is incompatible with any information about the path taken by a quantum particle. Here we show that, contrary to this assumption, the experimentally observable effects of small polarization rotations applied in the slits of a double-slit experiment indicate that individual particles passing the slits before their detection in the interference pattern are physically delocalized with regard to their interactions with the local polarization rotations. The rate at which the polarization is flipped to the orthogonal state is a direct measure of the fluctuations of the polarization rotation angles experienced by each particle. Particles detected in the interference maxima experience no fluctuations at all, indicating a presence of exactly one-half of the particle in each slit, while particles detected close to the minima experience polarization rotations much larger than the local rotations, indicating a negative presence in one of the slits and a presence of more than one in the other.

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There is no data associated with the present manuscript. The results are purely analytical.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama 1-3-1, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8530, Japan

    Holger F. Hofmann, Tomonori Matsushita, Shunichi Kuroki & Masataka Iinuma

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  1. Holger F. Hofmann
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  2. Tomonori Matsushita
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  3. Shunichi Kuroki
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  4. Masataka Iinuma
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Correspondence to Holger F. Hofmann.

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Hofmann, H.F., Matsushita, T., Kuroki, S. et al. A possible solution to the which-way problem of quantum interference. Quantum Stud.: Math. Found. 10, 429–437 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40509-023-00304-5

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