Abstract
From its very beginning, quantum theory has been revealing extraordinary and counter-intuitive phenomena, such as wave-particle duality, Schrödinger cats and quantum non-locality. Another paradoxical phenomenon found within the framework of quantum mechanics is the ‘quantum Cheshire Cat’: if a quantum system is subject to a certain pre- and postselection, it can behave as if a particle and its property are spatially separated. It has been suggested to employ weak measurements in order to explore the Cheshire Cat’s nature. Here we report an experiment in which we send neutrons through a perfect silicon crystal interferometer and perform weak measurements to probe the location of the particle and its magnetic moment. The experimental results suggest that the system behaves as if the neutrons go through one beam path, while their magnetic moment travels along the other.
Highlights
From its very beginning, quantum theory has been revealing extraordinary and counterintuitive phenomena, such as wave-particle duality, Schrodinger cats and quantum nonlocality
The experimental work on weak measurements demonstrated that they allow information about a quantum system to be obtained with minimal disturbance[14,15], that they can be used for high-precision metrology[16,17] and that they are perfectly suited for the study of quantum paradoxes[18,19,20,21,22]
From equations (1–3), we obtain hÅ^ Iiw1⁄40 and hÅ^ IIiw1⁄41, the first of these expressions indicating that a weak interaction coupling the spatial wavefunction to a probe localized on path I has no effect on the probe on average, as if there was no neutron travelling on that path
Summary
Quantum theory has been revealing extraordinary and counterintuitive phenomena, such as wave-particle duality, Schrodinger cats and quantum nonlocality Another paradoxical phenomenon found within the framework of quantum mechanics is the ‘quantum Cheshire Cat’: if a quantum system is subject to a certain pre- and postselection, it can behave as if a particle and its property are spatially separated. The study of fundamental quantum mechanical phenomena is enriching our scientific knowledge, and our understanding of the natural laws This understanding lead to the development of numerous technological applications: quantum non-locality[1,2,3,4] plays an essential role in quantum cryptology[5], the understanding of wave-particle duality[6] made semiconductor technology possible[7] and the investigation of Schrodinger cats[8] advanced the field of quantum information processing and communication[9]. The experimental work on weak measurements demonstrated that they allow information about a quantum system to be obtained with minimal disturbance[14,15], that they can be used for high-precision metrology[16,17] and that they are perfectly suited for the study of quantum paradoxes[18,19,20,21,22]
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