Experimental realization of Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment with dual selections

IF 6.4 1区物理与天体物理 Q1 PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy Pub Date : 2025-03-10 DOI:10.1007/s11433-024-2587-y

Xiaowan Yang, Xinglei Yu, Liangsheng Li, Xinzhi Zhao, Tianle Zheng, Chengjie Zhang, Chuan-Feng Li, Guang-Can Guo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment demonstrates wave-particle duality of particles using different experimental configurations of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In a quantum version of this experiment, the wave-particle behaviour of photons can be observed by controlling presence or absence of the second beam splitter. Here, we implement a delayed-choice experiment with dual selections based on entangled photons, experimentally controlling both of two beam splitters in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, where the presence and absence of the second beam splitter are simultaneously controlled through path encoding. Our experiment reveals the wave-particle behavior of single photons under different configurations of two beam splitters. We further discuss the scenario when two beam splitters are in a quantum superposition of being present and absent, photons will be in a wave-particle quantum superposition state.

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双重选择条件下Wheeler延迟选择实验的实验实现

惠勒的延迟选择实验使用马赫-曾德干涉仪的不同实验配置来证明粒子的波粒二象性。在这个实验的量子版本中，光子的波粒行为可以通过控制第二个分束器的存在或不存在来观察。在这里，我们实现了一个基于纠缠光子的双选择延迟选择实验，实验控制了马赫-曾德干涉仪中的两个分束器，其中第二个分束器的存在和不存在通过路径编码同时控制。我们的实验揭示了单光子在两个分束器不同配置下的波粒行为。我们进一步讨论了当两个分束器处于存在和不存在的量子叠加态时，光子将处于波粒量子叠加态。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

6.20%

发文量

4047

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, an academic journal cosponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and published by Science China Press, is committed to publishing high-quality, original results in both basic and applied research. Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, is published in both print and electronic forms. It is indexed by Science Citation Index. Categories of articles: Reviews summarize representative results and achievements in a particular topic or an area, comment on the current state of research, and advise on the research directions. The author’s own opinion and related discussion is requested. Research papers report on important original results in all areas of physics, mechanics and astronomy. Brief reports present short reports in a timely manner of the latest important results.