Loss of atom interference due to a random phase

Abstract

We suggest a model where the influence of an environment on the atom interference is associated with a random phase. The model consists of sending a two-level state atom through two cavities, both containing a standing wave field in the Bragg regime and Raman–Nath regime, respectively. In view of this model, we can visualize the loss of interference fringes if the randomness of the phase increases, and the restoration of the pattern when it decreases, as which-path information. Then, the controllable random noise acts as a decoherence that would destroy the quantum features.