We extend the study of Kapitza-Dirac diffraction to the case of two-particle
systems. Due to the exchange effects the shape and visibility of the
two-particle detection patterns show important differences for identical and
distinguishable particles. We also identify a novel quantum statistics effect
present in momentum space for some values of the initial particle momenta,
which is associated with different numbers of photon absorptions compatible
with the final momenta.Comment: Minor changes with the published versio
Identical two-particle interferometry provides a scenario where interference and exchange effects manifest at once. We present a detailed calculation of the detection patterns in the two-particle two-slit experiment by extending Feynman's Gaussian slit approach to multi-mode states. We show the existence of two regimes depending on the mode distributions. In one of them we find a novel behavior for bosons, with detection patterns almost equal to those of distinguishable particles although the overlapping is large. As a byproduct of our analysis we conclude that the interaction at the diffraction grating is an efficient method to increase the initial overlapping. We propose a scheme, within the reach of present day technology, to experimentally verify our results.
Two recent experiments studying the potential effect of entanglement on the emission properties of excited atoms produced in molecular photodissociation have been interpreted in conflicting ways. We present a theoretical analysis of the problem, showing that the experimental results can be explained by a combination of three processes: entanglement, exchange effects associated with the identical nature of the atoms and disentanglement by spontaneous emission. According to our approach these experiments provide the first verification of the phenomenon of disentanglement by spontaneous emission.
We study diffraction and interference of indistinguishable particles. We consider some examples where the wavefunctions and detection probabilities can be evaluated in an analytical way. The diffraction pattern of a two-particle system shows notorious differences for the cases of bosons, fermions and distinguishable particles. In the example of near-field interferometry, the exchange effects for two-fermion systems lead to the existence of planes at which the probability of double detection is null. We also discuss the relation with the approach to systems of identical particles based on correlation functions. In particular, we shall see that these functions reflect, as in noise interferometry, the underlying periodic structure of the diffraction grating.
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