An Improved Experiment to Determine the ‘Past of a Particle’ in the Nested Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

Ben-Israel, Alon; Knips, Lucas; Dziewior, Jan; Meinecke, Jasmin D. A.; Danan, A.; Weinfurter, Harald; Vaidman, Lev

doi:10.1088/0256-307x/34/2/020301

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Vaidman, together with his collaborators, performed an experiment demonstrating a surprising trace of the photons in nested interferometers [ 1 ] (see Figure 1 ). These results became the topic of a very large controversy [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Photons Are Lying about Where They Have Been

Vaidman

Tsutsui

2018

Entropy

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The past of the photon in a nested Mach-Zehnder interferometer with an inserted Dove prism is analyzed. It is argued that the Dove prism does not change the past of the photon. Alonso and Jordan correctly point out that an experiment by Danan et al. demonstrating the past of the photon in nested interferometer will show different results when the Dove prism is inserted. The reason, however, is not that the past is changed, but that the experimental demonstration becomes incorrect. The explanation of a signal from the place in which the photon was (almost) not present is given. Bohmian trajectory of the photon is specified.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Photons Are Lying about Where They Have Been

Vaidman

Tsutsui

2018

Entropy

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“…Skeptics, however, have objected to weak measurements as a means of revealing true quantum properties of the system [ 27 , 28 , 29 ] (see the reply in [ 30 ]), often explaining away their outcomes as noise inflicted by the measuring device’s uncertainty. Even stronger objections have been raised against Vaidman et al’s version of weak measurements in the present case [ 17 ], because it has employed classically vibrating mirrors and classical beams (rather than single photons), see e.g., the discussions in [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: In Search Of Validation: Weak and Strong Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Weak Reality That Makes Quantum Phenomena More Natural: Novel Insights and Experiments

Aharonov

Cohen

Waegell

et al. 2018

Entropy

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While quantum reality can be probed through measurements, the Two-State-Vector formalism (TSVF) reveals a subtler reality prevailing between measurements. Under special pre-and postselections, odd physical values emerge. This unusual picture calls for a deeper study. Instead of the common, wave-based picture of quantum mechanics, we suggest a new, particle-based perspective: Each particle possesses a definite location throughout its evolution, while some of its physical variables (characterized by deterministic operators, some of which obey nonlocal equations of motion) are carried by "mirage particles" accounting for its unique behavior. Within the time-interval between pre-and post-selection, the particle gives rise to a horde of such mirage particles, of which some can be negative. What appears to be "no-particle," known to give rise to Interaction-Free Measurement, is in fact a self-canceling pair of positive and negative mirage particles, which can be momentarily split and cancel out again. Feasible experiments can give empirical evidence for these fleeting phenomena. In this respect, the Heisenberg ontology is shown to be conceptually advantageous compared to the Schrödinger picture. We review several recent advances, discuss their foundational significance and point out possible directions for future research.

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“…For example, single photon variant of the experiment of Danan et al 1 was realized by Zhou et al 2 . There exist also other variants, see Li et al 18 and Ben-Israel et al 19 who used a combination of a standard MZI with a nested MZI. Another modification of the nested MZI with Dove prism inside the nested part was tried by Alonso et al 20 followed by a comment 21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The probability of an encounter of photons in nested and double-nested Mach-Zehnder interferometers

Schmidt,

Dubroka

2019

Preprint

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We present the results of a theoretical work discussing the propagation of an electromagnetic wave through nested Mach-Zehnder interferometers using classical optics and standard quantum theory. We show that some seemingly surprising effects at first sight, which are often explained in the literature using the two-state vector formalism (TSVF), are a direct consequence of destructive or constructive interference and thus there is no need for the unconventional TSVF formulation. We show that the probability of a photon detection derived from the weak value used in TSVF can be interpreted as the probability of an encounter of two opposing photon fluxes.

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An Improved Experiment to Determine the ‘Past of a Particle’ in the Nested Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

Abstract: We argue that the modification proposed by Li et al. [Chin. Phys. Lett. 32, 050303 (2015)] to the experiment of Danan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 240402 (2013)

Cited by 22 publications

References 15 publications

When Photons Are Lying about Where They Have Been

When Photons Are Lying about Where They Have Been

The Weak Reality That Makes Quantum Phenomena More Natural: Novel Insights and Experiments

The probability of an encounter of photons in nested and double-nested Mach-Zehnder interferometers

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