Quantum Mechanical Interference Research Articles

Finite numbers of sources, particle correlations and the Color Glass Condensate

We show that for a finite number of emitting sources, the Color Glass Condensate produces substantial elliptic azimuthal anisotropy, characterized by v2, for two and four particle correlations for momentum greater than or of the order of the saturation momentum. The flow produced has the correct semi-quantitative features to describe flow seen in the LHC experiments with p–Pb and pp collisions. This flow is induced by quantum mechanical interference between the waves of produced particles, and the flow itself is coupled to fluctuations in the positions of emitting sources. We shortly discuss generalizing these results to odd vn, to correlations involving larger number of particles, and to transverse momentum scales ΛQCD≪pT≪Qsat.

Wigner representation of ionization and scattering in strong laser fields

The interaction of single-electron atoms with a strong laser field is studied in the Wigner representation. The Wigner function is a quasiprobability function in phase space that allows one to study position-momentum correlations. These correlations give a physical interpretation of the emergence of the above-threshold-ionization (ATI) energy spectrum. Conversely, the quantum-mechanical interference between electrons from neighboring photon orders can explain the spatial bunching of the electron density by the laser field. Furthermore, the Wigner function offers one a rather accurate and relatively efficient quasiclassical estimate of the bound-state population. This method is applied to laser-induced electron-ion scattering and the stationary regime of the bound-state population can be determined. The present calculations are performed for a one-dimensional Rosen-Morse potential. Extensions to general spherically symmetric atomic potentials are indicated.

Electromechanical oscillations in bilayer graphene.

Nanoelectromechanical systems constitute a class of devices lying at the interface between fundamental research and technological applications. Realizing nanoelectromechanical devices based on novel materials such as graphene allows studying their mechanical and electromechanical characteristics at the nanoscale and addressing fundamental questions such as electron–phonon interaction and bandgap engineering. In this work, we realize electromechanical devices using single and bilayer graphene and probe the interplay between their mechanical and electrical properties. We show that the deflection of monolayer graphene nanoribbons results in a linear increase in their electrical resistance. Surprisingly, we observe oscillations in the electromechanical response of bilayer graphene. The proposed theoretical model suggests that these oscillations arise from quantum mechanical interference in the transition region induced by sliding of individual graphene layers with respect to each other. Our work shows that bilayer graphene conceals unexpectedly rich and novel physics with promising potential in applications based on nanoelectromechanical systems.

Theoretical investigation of the dynamics of O((1)D→(3)P) electronic quenching by collision with Xe.

We present the quantum close-coupling treatment of spin-orbit induced transitions between the (1)D and (3)P states of an atom in collisions with a closed-shell spherical partner. In the particular case of O colliding with Xe, we used electronic structure calculations to compute the relevant potential energy curves and spin-orbit coupling matrix elements. We then carried out quantum scattering calculations of integral and differential quenching cross sections as functions of the collision energy. The calculated differential cross sections for electronic quenching are in reasonable agreement with measurements [Garofalo et al., J. Chem. Phys. 143, 054307 (2015)]. The differential cross sections exhibit pronounced oscillations as a function of the scattering angle. By a semiclassical analysis, we show that these oscillations result from quantum mechanical interference between two classical paths.

Double-slit experiment with single wave-driven particles and its relation to quantum mechanics

In a thought-provoking paper, Couder and Fort [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 154101 (2006)] describe a version of the famous double-slit experiment performed with droplets bouncing on a vertically vibrated fluid surface. In the experiment, an interference pattern in the single-particle statistics is found even though it is possible to determine unambiguously which slit the walking droplet passes. Here we argue, however, that the single-particle statistics in such an experiment will be fundamentally different from the single-particle statistics of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanical interference takes place between different classical paths with precise amplitude and phase relations. In the double-slit experiment with walking droplets, these relations are lost since one of the paths is singled out by the droplet. To support our conclusions, we have carried out our own double-slit experiment, and our results, in particular the long and variable slit passage times of the droplets, cast strong doubt on the feasibility of the interference claimed by Couder and Fort. To understand theoretically the limitations of wave-driven particle systems as analogs to quantum mechanics, we introduce a Schrödinger equation with a source term originating from a localized particle that generates a wave while being simultaneously guided by it. We show that the ensuing particle-wave dynamics can capture some characteristics of quantum mechanics such as orbital quantization. However, the particle-wave dynamics can not reproduce quantum mechanics in general, and we show that the single-particle statistics for our model in a double-slit experiment with an additional splitter plate differs qualitatively from that of quantum mechanics.

The Effect of Quantum-Mechanical Interference on Precise Measurements of the n = 2 Triplet P Fine Structure of Helium

For many decades, improvements in both theory and experiment of the fine structure of the n = 2 triplet P levels of helium have allowed for an increasingly precise determination of the fine-structure constant. Recently, it has been observed that quantum-mechanical interference between neighboring resonances can cause significant shifts, even if such neighboring resonances are separated by thousands of natural widths. The shifts depend in detail on the experimental method used for the measurement, as well as the specific experimental parameters employed. Here, we review how these shifts apply for the most precise measurements of the helium 23P fine-structure intervals.

Quantum interference effects in saturated absorption spectroscopy ofn=2triplet-helium fine structure

The effects of quantum-mechanical interference with a far-off-resonant transition on saturated-absorption measurements of atomic fine-structure intervals are found to be substantially larger than measurement uncertainty, and it is shown how properly taking them into account brings several previous measurements into agreement.

Double Path Interference and Magnetic Oscillations in Cooper Pair Transport through a Single Nanowire.

We show that the critical current of the Josephson junction consisting of superconducting electrodes coupled through a nanowire with two conductive channels can reveal the multiperiodic magnetic oscillations. The multiperiodicity originates from the quantum mechanical interference between the channels affected by both the strong spin-orbit coupling and the Zeeman interaction. This minimal two-channel model is shown to explain the complicated interference phenomena observed recently in Josephson transport through Bi nanowires.

Signatures of non-adiabatic dynamics in the fine-structure state distributions of the OH(X̃/Ã) products in the B-band photodissociation of H2O.

A detailed quantum mechanical characterization of the photodissociation dynamics of H2O at 121.6 nm is presented. The calculations were performed using a full-dimensional wave packet method on coupled potential energy surfaces of all relevant electronic states. Our state-to-state model permits a detailed analysis of the OH(X̃/Ã) product fine-structure populations as a probe of the non-adiabatic dissociation dynamics. The calculated rotational state distributions of the two Λ-doublet levels of OH(X̃, v = 0) exhibit very different characteristics. The A' states, produced mostly via the B̃→X̃ conical intersection pathway, have significantly higher populations than the A″ counterparts, which are primarily from the B̃→Ã Renner-Teller pathway. The former features a highly inverted and oscillatory rotational state distribution, while the latter has a smooth distribution with much less rotational excitation. In good agreement with experiment, the calculated total OH(X̃) rotational state distribution and anisotropy parameters show clear even-odd oscillations, which can be attributed to a quantum mechanical interference between waves emanating from the HOH and HHO conical intersections in the B̃→X̃ non-adiabatic pathway. On the other hand, the experiment-theory agreement for the OH(Ã) fragment is also satisfactory, although some small quantitative differences suggest remaining imperfections of the ab initio based potential energy surfaces.

Influence of laser pulse shape and spectral composition on strong-field Kapitza-Dirac scattering

Diffractive scattering of an electron beam from an intense standing wave of light (Kapitza-Dirac effect) is analyzed theoretically. The corresponding Schrödinger equation is solved in the Bragg regime by combined analytical and numerical means. Our goals are twofold: On the one hand, we examine the influence of the nature of the field's turning- on phase and demonstrate that a smooth, adiabatic envelope restricts the transitions to those satisfying the Bragg condition. On the other hand, we study signatures of quantum mechanical interference when the standing light wave comprises two commensurate frequencies. Characteristic modifications of the Rabi oscillation dynamics and a dependence on the relative phase between the frequency modes are revealed.

Decoherence in semiconductor cavity QED systems due to phonon couplings

We investigate the effect of electron-phonon interactions on the coherence properties of single photons emitted from a semiconductor cavity QED system, i.e. a quantum dot embedded in an optical cavity. The degree of indistinguishability, governing the quantum mechanical interference between two single photons, is calculated as a function of important parameters describing the cavity QED system and the phonon reservoir, e.g. cavity quality factor, light-matter coupling strength, temperature and phonon lifetime. We show that non-Markovian effects play an important role in determining the coherence properties for typical parameter values and establish the conditions under which a Markovian approximation may be applied. The calculations are performed using a recently developed second order perturbation theory, the limits of validity of which are established by comparing to an exact diagonalization approach. We find that for large cavity decay rates the perturbation theory may break down.

Description of Polar Chemical Bonds from the Quantum Mechanical Interference Perspective.

The Generalized Product Function Energy Partitioning (GPF-EP) method has been applied to a set of molecules, AH (A = Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F), CO and LiF with quite different dipole moments, in order to investigate the role played by the quantum interference effect in the formation of polar chemical bonds. The calculations were carried out with GPF wave functions treating all the core electrons as a single Hartree-Fock group and the bonding electrons at the Generalized Valence Bond Perfect-Pairing (GVB-PP) level, with the cc-pVTZ basis set. The results of the energy partitioning into interference and quasi-classical contributions along the respective Potential Energy Surfaces (PES) show that the main contribution to the depth of the potential wells comes from the interference term, which is an indication that all the molecules mentioned above form typical covalent bonds. In all cases, the stabilization promoted by the interference term comes from the kinetic contribution, in agreement with previous results. The analysis of the effect of quantum interference on the electron density reveals that while polarization effects (quasi-classical) tend to displace electronic density from the most polarizable atom toward the less polarizable one, interference (quantum effects) counteracts by displacing electronic density to the bond region, giving rise to the right electronic density and dipole moment.

Spatially resolving valley quantum interference of a donor in silicon

Electron and nuclear spins of donor ensembles in isotopically pure silicon experience a vacuum-like environment, giving them extraordinary coherence. However, in contrast to a real vacuum, electrons in silicon occupy quantum superpositions of valleys in momentum space. Addressable single-qubit and two-qubit operations in silicon require that qubits are placed near interfaces, modifying the valley degrees of freedom associated with these quantum superpositions and strongly influencing qubit relaxation and exchange processes. Yet to date, spectroscopic measurements have only probed wavefunctions indirectly, preventing direct experimental access to valley population, donor position and environment. Here we directly probe the probability density of single quantum states of individual subsurface donors, in real space and reciprocal space, using scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. We directly observe quantum mechanical valley interference patterns associated with linear superpositions of valleys in the donor ground state. The valley population is found to be within 5% of a bulk donor when 2.85 ± 0.45 nm from the interface, indicating that valley-perturbation-induced enhancement of spin relaxation will be negligible for depths greater than 3 nm. The observed valley interference will render two-qubit exchange gates sensitive to atomic-scale variations in positions of subsurface donors. Moreover, these results will also be of interest for emerging schemes proposing to encode information directly in valley polarization.

Shifts due to quantum-mechanical interference from distant neighboring resonances for saturated fluorescence spectroscopy of the23Sto23Pintervals of helium

Quantum-mechanical interference with distant neighboring resonances is found to cause shifts for precision saturated fluorescence spectroscopy of the atomic helium ${2}^{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}3}S$-to-${2}^{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}3}P$ transitions. The shifts are significant (larger than the experimental uncertainties for measurements of the intervals) despite the fact that the neighboring resonances are separated from the measured resonances by 1400 and 20$\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}$000 natural widths. The shifts depend strongly on experimental parameters such as the angular position of the fluorescence detector, the intensity and size of laser beams, and the properties of the atomic beam. These shifts must be considered for the ongoing program of determining the fine-structure constant from the helium ${2}^{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}3}P$ fine structure.

Quantum dynamics of interacting modes in the process of intracavity subharmonic generation

The dynamics of correlation between fluctuations of the number of photons of interacting modes is investigated for the process of intracavity subharmonic generation. It is demonstrated that this correlation strongly depends on the nonlinear mode coupling coefficient. For small values of the coupling coefficient, the correlation between fluctuations of the number of photons is small. With an increase in the coupling coefficient, the correlation increases (the state of subsystems becomes entangled) and, starting from a particular value of the coupling coefficient, starts to decrease with further increase in the coupling coefficient, gradually approaching zero (entanglement of subsystem states decreases). The quantum dynamics of the number of photons, quantum entropy, and Wigner function of the stationary state of the fundamental and subharmonic modes is investigated. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of these quantities also strongly depends on the coupling coefficient of the interacting modes. We show that, for large values of the mode coupling coefficient and long interaction times, the subharmonic mode becomes localized in a two-component state with equal probabilities of finding it in each component. Quantum entropy of this state is smaller than maximum entropy of the two-component state equal to ln2, which suggests that quantum-mechanical interference takes place between the subharmonic mode components.

Nonclassical Properties of Multiple-Photon-Added Two-Mode Squeezed Coherent States

We investigate how the photon addition operation affects the nonclassical properties of the non-Gaussian squeezed state generated by adding photons to each mode of the two-mode squeezed coherent state (TMSCS). By the generating function of two-variable Hermite polynomials, the compact expression of normalization factor is derived. We show that the fields in such states exhibit remarkable sub-Poissonian photon statistics. The photon addition operation can enhance the cross-correlation for appropriate combinations of several parameters involved in the TMSCS. Compared with that of TMSCS, the Wigner function of the photon–added TMSCS (PA-TMSCS) is modulated by a factor which is also related with two-variable Hermite polynomials. Such Wigner functions have some negativity regions and show a strong quantum mechanical interference. In addition, the normalization factor, Mandel’s Q parameter, cross-correlation function and Wigner functions are all sensitive to the compound phase involved in TMSCS.

Interference effects and Stark broadening in XUV intrashell transitions in aluminum under conditions of intense XUV free-electron-laser irradiation

Quantum mechanical interference effects in the line broadening of intrashell transitions are investigated for dense plasma conditions. Simulations that involved $LSJ$-split level structure and intermediate coupling discovered unexpected strong line narrowing for intrashell transitions $L$-$L$ while $M$-$L$ transitions remained practically unaffected by interference effects. This behavior allows a robust study of line narrowing in dense plasmas. Simulations are carried out for XUV transitions of aluminum that have recently been observed in experiments with the FLASH free-electron laser in Hamburg irradiating solid aluminum samples with intensities greater than ${10}^{16}$ W/cm${}^{2}$. We explore the advantageous case of Al that allows, first, simultaneous observation of $M$-$L$ transitions and $L$-$L$ intrashell transitions with high-resolution grating spectrometers and, second, has a convenient threshold to study interference effects at densities much below solid. Finally, we present simulations at near solid density where the line emission transforms into a quasicontinuum.

Theory of strong-field injection and control of photocurrent in dielectrics and wide band gap semiconductors

We propose a theory of optically induced currents in dielectrics and wide gap semiconductors exposed to a nonresonant ultrashort laser pulse with a stabilized carrier-envelope phase. To describe strong-field electron dynamics, equations for the density matrix have been solved self-consistently with equations for the macroscopic electric field inside the medium, which we model by a one-dimensional potential. We provide a detailed analysis of physically important quantities (band populations, macroscopic polarization, and transferred charge), which reveals that carrier-envelope phase control of the electric current can be interpreted as a result of quantum-mechanical interference of multiphoton excitation channels. Our numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data.

Quantum Communication Through a Two-Dimensional Spin Network

We investigate the state or entanglement transfer through a two-dimensional spin network. We show that for state transfer, better fidelity can be gained along the diagonal direction but for entanglement transfer, when the initial entanglement is created along the boundary, the concurrence is more inclined to propagate along the boundary. This behavior is produced by quantum mechanical interference and the communication quality depends on the precise size of the network. For some number of sites, the fidelity in a two-dimensional channel is higher than one-dimensional case. This is an important result for realizing quantum communication through high dimension spin chain networks.

Coherent Control of the Photoionization of Pyrazine

Most attempts to control the absorption of resonant light by quantum mechanical interference have been limited to atoms and small molecules with specialized state configurations and selection rules. Here we illustrate experimentally the possibility of creating laser-induced transparencies in complex molecular systems. Our approach takes advantage of the nonadiabatic excited-state dynamics characteristic of polyatomic molecules. Specifically, we show that it is possible to construct femtosecond pulses using a genetic algorithm to suppress the ionization of isolated pyrazine molecules at a prespecified time. The data suggest that transparency is achieved by localization of a wave packet in a region of the coupled S1/S2 potential energy surfaces, where a vertical transition to the ionic state is energetically forbidden. This approach is general and does not require prior knowledge of the molecular Hamiltonian.