Abstract
The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. In this famous experiment, particles pass one-by-one through a pair of slits and are detected on a distant screen. A distinct wave-like pattern emerges after many discrete particle impacts as if each particle is passing through both slits and interfering with itself. Here we present a temporally- and spatially-resolved measurement of the double-slit interference pattern using single photons. We send single photons through a birefringent double-slit apparatus and use a linear array of single-photon detectors to observe the developing interference pattern. 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. Finally, we send one photon from an entangled pair through our double-slit setup and show the dependence of the resulting interference pattern on the twin photon's measured state. Our results provide new insight into the dynamics of the buildup process in the double-slit experiment, and can be used as a valuable resource in quantum information applications.
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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