Modified quantum delayed-choice experiment without quantum control or entanglement assistance

Abstract

Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment delays the decision to observe either the wave or particle behavior of a photon until after it has entered the interferometer, and the quantum delayed-choice experiment provides the possibility of observing the wave and particle behaviors with a single experimental setup by introducing quantum control. We here propose a modified quantum delayed-choice experiment without quantum control or entanglement assistance, in which a photon can be prepared in a wave-particle superposition state and the morphing behavior of wave-to-particle transition can be observed easily. It is demonstrated that the presented scheme can allow us to rule out classical hidden-variable models in a device-independent manner via violating dimension witness. We also extend the scheme to the situation of two degrees of freedom, first constructing a hybrid quantum delayed-choice experiment which enables a photon respectively exhibits wave and particle behaviors in different degrees of freedom, and then proposing a scheme to prepare the single-photon wave-particle entanglement. This study is not only meaningful to explore the wave-particle complementarity of photons, but also provides potential for the research of the single-particle nonlocality from the perspective of the wave-particle degree of freedom.