Abstract
Summary form only given. The essence of wave-particle duality is that particles passing through slits form a pattern that can only be explained by resorting to wave mechanics. Here we present results that provide insight into the buildup of the multiple-slit interference pattern. The perfect time resolved measurements would ideally involve a single-particle source and an array of single-particle noiseless detectors featuring perfect quantum efficiency and time resolution. In previous experiments for electrons [1], photons [2] and molecules [3], detection of single particles was limited by minimum acquisition times, thus denying access to precise timing information. We make a significant step forward, approaching the perfect measurement very closely and showing real-time interference pattern buildup of single-photon detections as a result of passing through a system of multiple slits. These measurements accessed precise timing information, allowing us to analyse the interference pattern's formation process and effects of entanglement.
Highlights
The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects
The analysis of the buildup allows us to compare quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model, which aims to explain the mystery of single-particle interference
We use an array of 32 single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD)[5,6] as a detection ‘‘screen’’ for our double-slit setup
Summary
The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. Both quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model eventually predict the final pattern very well, they require 200(5) and 1000(10) photons, respectively, to achieve R2 5 0.96. The polarization state of the trigger photon would have no effect on the phase of the interference pattern if these were non-entangled pairs Our measurement techniques will dramatically decrease the difficulty of directly measuring the wave-function of a system by performing weak measurements[19,20] These will allow us to herald a variety of polarization states in a multiplexed fashion, as well as facilitate the encoding and transfer of information using the hyper-entanglement of the spatial, temporal and polarization degrees of freedom[3,21,22]
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