We have experimentally demonstrated the interferometric complementarity, which relates the distinguishability $D$ quantifying the amount of which-way (WW) information to the fringe visibility $V$ characterizing the wave feature of a quantum entity, in a bulk ensemble by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques. We primarily concern on the intermediate cases: partial fringe visibility and incomplete WW information. We propose a quantitative measure of $D$ by an alternative geometric strategy and investigate the relation between $D$ and entanglement. By measuring $D$ and $V$ independently, it turns out that the duality relation $D^{2}+V^{2}=1$ holds for pure quantum states of the markers.
We analyze an interferometric complementarity between one- and two-particle interference in the general case: $V_{i}^{2}+V_{12}^{2}\leq 1$ $(i=1$, $2)$, and further examine the relation among one-particle interference visibility $V_{i}$, two-particle interference visibility $V_{12}$ and the predication $P_{i}$ of the path of a single particle. An equality $V_{i}^{2}+V_{12}^{2}+P_{i}^{2}=1$ $(i=1$, $2)$ is achieved for any pure two-particle source, which implies the condition of the complementarity relation to reach the upper bound and its relation to another interferometric complementarity bet…
Interferometric complementarity is known to be one of the most nonclassical manifestations of the quantum formalism. It is commonly known as wave-particle duality and has been studied presently from the perspective of quantum information theory where wave and particle nature of a quantum system, called quanton, are characterised by coherence and path distinguishability respectively. We here consider the effect of noisy detectors on the complementarity relation. We report that by suitably choosing the initial quanton and the detector states along with the proper interactions between the quanton…
We revisit, in the framework of Mach-Zehnder interferometry, the connection between the complementarity and uncertainty principles of quantum mechanics. Specifically, we show that, for a pair of suitably chosen observables, the trade-off relation between the complementary path information and fringe visibility is equivalent to the uncertainty relation given by Schr\"odinger and Robertson, and to the one provided by Landau and Pollak as well. We also employ entropic uncertainty relations (based on Rényi entropic measures) and study their meaning for different values of the entropic parameter. …
Relations connecting violation of any Bell inequalities and the complementarity between visibility and distinguishability in the interferometric experiments with different sources of decoherence are presented. A boundary of local-realistic explanation of the which-way complementarity is discussed in dependence on the choice of independent or collective tests of nonlocality.
We analyse interaction-free measurements on classical and quantum objects. We show the transition from a classical interaction free measurement to a quantum non-demolition measurement of atom number, and discuss the mechanism of the enforcement of complementarity in atom interferometric interaction-free measurements.
A complementarity relation is shown between the visibility of interference and bipartite entanglement in a two qubit interferometric system when the parameters of the quantum operation change for a given input state. The entanglement measure is a decreasing function of the visibility of interference. The implications for quantum computation are briefly discussed.
We establish a rigorous quantitative connection between (i) the interferometric duality relation for which-way information and fringe visibility and (ii) Heisenberg's uncertainty relation for position and modular momentum. We apply our theory to atom interferometry, wherein spontaneously emitted photons provide which way information, and unambiguously resolve the challenge posed by the metamaterial `perfect lens' to complementarity and to the Heisenberg-Bohr interpretation of the Heisenberg microscope thought experiment.
We introduce a complete set of complementary quantities in bipartite, two-dimensional systems. Complementarity then relates the quantitative entanglement measure concurrence which is a bipartite property to the single-particle quantum properties predictability and visibility, for the most general quantum state of two qubits. Consequently, from an interferometric point of view, the usual wave-particle duality relation must be extended to a ``triality'' relation containing, in addition, the quantitative entanglement measure concurrence, which has no classical counterpart and manifests a genuine …
Quantization of the gravity remains one of the most important, yet extremely illusive, challenges at the heart of modern physics. Any attempt to resolve this long-standing problem seems to be doomed, as the route to any direct empirical evidence (i.e., detecting gravitons) for shedding light on the quantum aspect of the gravity is far beyond the current capabilities. Recently, it has been discovered that gravitationally-induced entanglement, tailored in the interferometric frameworks, can be used to witness the quantum nature of the gravity. Even though these schemes offer promising tools for …
We critically analyze the problem of formulating duality between fringe visibility and which-way information, in multibeam interference experiments. We show that the traditional notion of visibility is incompatible with any intuitive idea of complementarity, but for the two-beam case. We derive a number of new inequalities, not present in the two-beam case, one of them coinciding with a recently proposed multibeam generalization of the inequality found by Greenberger and YaSin. We show, by an explicit procedure of optimization in a three-beam case, that suggested generalizations of Englert's i…
We present first measure of quantum correlation of an ensemble of multiparty states. It is based on the idea of minimal entropy production in a locally distinguishable basis measurement. It is shown to be a relative entropy distance from a set of ensembles. For bipartite ensembles, which span the whole bipartite Hilbert space, the measure is bounded below by average relative entropy of entanglement. We naturally obtain a monotonicity axiom for any measure of quantum correlation of ensembles. We evaluate this measure for certain cases. Subsequently we use this measure to propose a complementari…
The quantitative formulation of Bohr's complementarity proposed by Greenberger and Yasin is applied to some physical situations for which analytical expressions are available. This includes a variety of conventional double-slit experiments, but also particle oscillations, as in the case of the neutral-kaon system, and Mott scattering of identical nuclei. For all these cases, a unified description can be achieved including a new parameter, $ν$, which quantifies the effective number of fringes one can observe in each specific interferometric set-up.
We have tested complementarity for the ensemble-averaged spin states of nuclei $^{13}$C in the molecule of $^{13}$CHCl$_{3}$ by the use of the spin states of another nuclei $^{1}$H as the path marker. It turns out that the wave-particle duality holds when one merely measures the probability density of quantum states, and that the wave- and particle-like behavior is simultaneously observed with the help of measuring populations and coherence in a single nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) experiment. Effects of path-marking schemes and causes of the appearance and disappearance of the wave behavior…
We show a wave-particle duality of light and its complementary relation in the context of the intensity interference measured by intensity correlation measurement, especially for the case of the second-order intensity interference observed in the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer. Different from the complementary relation appearing in the interference based on the phase coherence like in the Young's double-slit interferometer, the complementary relation in the intensity interference has a gap between classical and nonclassical lights. This reveals a new nonclassical nature of light where both wave…
Quantum coherence quantifies the amount of superposition in a quantum system, and is the reason and resource behind several phenomena and technologies. It depends on the natural basis in which the quantum state of the system is expressed, which in turn hinges on the physical set-up being analyzed and utilized. While quantum coherence has hitherto been conceptualized by employing different categories of complete bases, there do exist interesting physical situations, where the natural basis is an incomplete one, an example being an interferometric set-up with the observer controlling only a cert…
We propose quantum circuits to test interferometric complementarity using symmetric two-way interferometers coupled to a which-path detector. First, we consider the two-qubit setup in which the controlled transfer of path information to the detector subsystem depletes interference on the probed subspace, testing the visibility-distinguishability trade-off via minimum-error state discrimination measurements. Next, we consider the quantum eraser setup, in which reading out path information in the right basis recovers an interference pattern. These experiments are then carried out in an IBM super…
Some recent works have introduced a quantum twist to the concept of complementarity, exemplified by a setup in which the which-way detector is in a superposition of being present and absent. It has been argued that such experiments allow measurement of particle-like and wave-like behavior at the same time. Here we derive an inequality which puts a bound on the visibility of interference and the amount of which-way information that one can obtain, in the context of such modified experiments. As the wave-aspect can only be revealed by an ensemble of detections, we argue that in such experiments,…
The double-slit interferometer and the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with balanced beam splitters are prototypical setups for investigating the quantum wave-particle duality. These setups induced a quantitative association of interferometric visibility (IVI) with the wave aspect of a single quantum system (WAQ). Recently, it was realized that quantum coherence (QC) can be better suited than IVI for quantifying the WAQ in complementarity relations. In this article, we investigate a MZI with biased beam splitters both in the input and the output, and we show that in some cases the IVI is not…
Bohr's principle of complementarity predicts that in a welcher weg ("which-way") experiment, obtaining fully visible interference pattern should lead to the destruction of the path knowledge. Here I report a failure for this prediction in an optical interferometry experiment. Coherent laser light is passed through a dual pinhole and allowed to go through a converging lens, which forms well-resolved images of the respective pinholes, providing complete path knowledge. A series of thin wires are then placed at previously measured positions corresponding to the dark fringes of the interference pa…
We investigate theoretically and experimentally a nondestructive interferometric measurement of the state population of an ensemble of laser cooled and trapped atoms. This study is a step towards generation of (pseudo-) spin squeezing of cold atoms targeted at the improvement of the Caesium clock performance beyond the limit set by the quantum projection noise of atoms. We calculate the phase shift and the quantum noise of a near resonant optical probe pulse propagating through a cloud of cold 133Cs atoms. We analyze the figure of merit for a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of the col…
We have implemented a novel double-slit "which-way" experiment which raises interesting questions of interpretation. Coherent laser light is passed through a converging lens and then through a dual pinhole producing two beams crossing over at the focal point of the lens, and fully separating further downstream providing which-way information. A thin wire is then placed at a minimum of the interference pattern formed at the cross-over region. No significant reduction in the total flux or resolution of the separated beams is found, providing evidence for coexistence of perfect interference and w…
Complementarity theory is the essence of the Copenhagen interpretation. Since the Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments, the particle nature of photons has been intensively studied for various quantum phenomena such as anticorrelation and Bell inequality violation in terms of two-photon correlation. Regarding the fundamental question on these quantum features, however, no clear answer exists for how to generate such an entanglement photon pair and what causes the maximum correlation between them. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the physics of anticorrelation on a beam splitter using sub-Pois…
A quantitative formulation of Bohr's complementarity principle and interferometric duality is discussed and applied to the neutral kaon system. Recent measurements by the CPLEAR Collaboration can be easily interpreted in terms of ``neutral kaon interferometry'' illustrating and confirming those basic principles of quantum mechanics.
Bohr's complementarity principle has been challenged by quantum delayed-choice experiments wherein quantum systems are claimed to behave neither as wave nor as a particle, but in an intermediary way. However, this conclusion has been supported by retro-inference and with no direct link with the system quantum state. Here, we consider a framework that employs an operational criterion of physical reality to diagnosis the system ontology directly from the quantum state at each instant of time. We show that, in disparity with previous proposals, our setup ensures a formal link between the output v…
Wave-particle duality and complementarity principle stand at the conceptual core of quantum theory in its orthodox Copenhagen interpretation. They imply that the wave behavior and particle behavior of quantum objects are mutually exclusive to each other in experimental observation. Here we make a systematic analysis using the elementary methodology of quantum mechanics upon Young`s two-slit interferometer and Mach-Zehnder two-arm interferometer with the focus placed on how to measure the interference pattern (wave nature) and which-way information (particle nature) of quantum objects. We desig…
Current attempts to probe general relativistic effects in quantum mechanics focus on precision measurements of phase shifts in matter-wave interferometry. Yet, phase shifts can always be explained as arising due to an Aharonov-Bohm effect, where a particle in a flat space-time is subject to an effective potential. Here we propose a novel quantum effect that cannot be explained without the general relativistic notion of proper time. We consider interference of a "clock" - a particle with evolving internal degrees of freedom - that will not only display a phase shift, but also reduce the visibil…
A philosophically consistent axiomatic approach to classical and quantum mechanics is given. The approach realizes a strong formal implementation of Bohr's correspondence principle. In all instances, classical and quantum concepts are fully parallel: the same general theory has a classical realization and a quantum realization. Extending the `probability via expectation' approach of Whittle to noncommuting quantities, this paper defines quantities, ensembles, and experiments as mathematical concepts and shows how to model complementarity, uncertainty, probability, nonlocality and dynamics in t…
The restrictions that nature places on the distribution of correlations in a multipartite quantum system play fundamental roles in the evolution of such systems, and yield vital insights into the design of protocols for the quantum control of ensembles with potential applications in the field of quantum computing. We show how this entanglement sharing behavior may be studied in increasingly complex systems of both theoretical and experimental significance and demonstrate that entanglement sharing, as well as other unique features of entanglement, e.g. the fact that maximal information about a …
We use tools from the theory of dynamical systems with symmetries to stratify Uhlmann's standard purification bundle and derive a new connection for mixed quantum states. For unitarily evolving systems, this connection gives rise to the 'interferometric' geometric phase of Sjöqvist et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 2845 - 2849 (2000)], and for more generally evolving open systems it gives rise to the generalization of the interferometric geometric phase due to Tong et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 080405 (2004)].
A unifying framework for identifying distance and holonomy for decompositions of density operators is introduced. Parallelity between quantum ensembles is defined by minimizing this distance over allowed decompositions. The minimum is a property of a pair of states and coincides with the Bures distance. The parallelity condition imposes a connection (rule for parallel transport) that results in the Uhlmann holonomy for sequences of density operators. A distance and holonomy for spectral decompositions of density operators is identified as a sub-group restriction of the full decomposition freed…
We present a detailed analysis of a new robust quantum repeater architecture building on the original DLCZ protocol [L.M. Duan \textit{et al.}, Nature (London) \textbf{414}, 413 (2001)]. The new architecture is based on two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel-type interference which relaxes the long-distance interferometric stability requirements by about 7 orders of magnitude, from sub-wavelength for the single photon interference required by DLCZ to the coherence length of the photons, thereby removing the weakest point in the DLCZ schema. Our proposal provides an exciting possibility for robust and reali…
We analyze the creation of spin squeezed atomic ensembles by simultaneous dispersive interactions with several optical frequencies. A judicious choice of optical parameters enables optimization of an interferometric detection scheme that suppresses inhomogeneous light shifts and keeps the interferometer operating in a balanced mode that minimizes technical noise. We show that when the atoms interact with two-frequency light tuned to cycling transitions the degree of spin squeezing $ξ^2$ scales as $ξ^2\sim 1/d$ where $d$ is the resonant optical depth of the ensemble. In real alkali atoms there …
A unified conceptual foundation of classical and quantum physics is given, free of undefined terms. Ensembles are defined by extending the `probability via expectation' approach of Whittle to noncommuting quantities. This approach carries no connotations of unlimited repeatability; hence it can be applied to unique systems such as the universe. Precise concepts and traditional results about complementarity, uncertainty and nonlocality follow with a minimum of technicalities. Probabilities are introduced in a generality supporting so-called effects (i.e., fuzzy events). States are defined as pa…
Monitoring the fluorescent radiation of an atom unravels the master equation evolution by collapsing the atomic state into a pure state which evolves stochastically. A robust unraveling is one that gives pure states that, on average, are relatively unaffected by the master equation evolution (which applies once the monitoring ceases). The ensemble of pure states arising from the maximally robust unraveling has been suggested to be the most natural way of representing the system [H.M. Wiseman and J.A. Vaccaro, Phys. Lett. A {\bf 250}, 241 (1998)]. We find that the maximally robust unraveling of…
The properties which give quantum mechanics its unique character - unitarity, complementarity, non-commutativity, uncertainty, nonlocality - derive from the algebraic structure of Hermitian operators acting on the wavefunction in complex Hilbert space. Because of this, the wavefunction cannot be shown to describe an ensemble of deterministic states where uncertainty simply reflects a lack of knowledge about which ensemble member describes reality. This has led to endless debates about the ontology of quantum mechanics. Here we derive these same quantum properties from number theoretic attribut…
One of the fundamental problems with the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, according to Bohr, is the fact that "our usual description of physical phenomena is based entirely on the idea that the phenomena concerned may be observed without disturbing them appreciably". Furthermore in his articles discussing the subject Bohr argues that the action of the probe will be affected by the system and inasmuch the system will be affected by the probe. Specifically in Gedanken experiments he tests the wave-particle duality of the system and implicitly assumes that the probe is also a quantum system. …
In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. {\bf A64}, 042113 (2001)] S. Dürr proposed an interesting multibeam generalization of the quantitative formulation of interferometric wave-particle duality, discovered by Englert for two-beam interferometers. The proposed generalization is an inequality that relates a generalized measure of the fringe visibility, to certain measures of the maximum amount of which-way knowledge that can be stored in a which-way detector. We construct an explicit example where, with three beams in a pure state, the scheme proposed by Dürr leads to the possibility of an ideal which-w…
We propose a thought experiment for classical superluminal signal transmission based on the quantum nonlocal influence of photons on their momentum entangled EPR twins. The signal sender measures either position or momentum of particles in a pure ensemble of the entangled pairs, leaving their twins as localized particles or plane waves. The signal receiver distinguishes these outcomes interferometrically using a double slit interferometer modified by a system of optical filters. Since the collapse of the wavefunction is postulated to be instantaneous, this signal can be transmitted superlumina…
The combination of different quantum systems may allow the exploration of the distinctive features of each system for the investigation of fundamental phenomena as well as for quantum technologies. In this work we consider a setup consisting of an atomic ensemble enclosed within a laser-driven optomechanical cavity, having the moving mirror further (capacitively) coupled to a low frequency LC circuit. This constitutes a four-partite optoelectromechanical quantum system containing three macroscopic quantum subsystems of a different nature, viz, the atomic ensemble, the massive mirror and the LC…
Quantum mechanics is potentially advantageous for certain information-processing tasks, but its probabilistic nature and requirement of measurement back action often limit the precision of conventional classical information-processing devices, such as sensors and atomic clocks. Here we show that by engineering the dynamics of coupled quantum systems, it is possible to construct a subsystem that evades the measurement back action of quantum mechanics, at all times of interest, and obeys any classical dynamics, linear or nonlinear, that we choose. We call such a system a quantum-mechanics-free s…
