A well-known phenomenon in both optics and quantum mechanics is the so-called Talbot effect. This near field interference effect arises when infinitely periodic diffracting structures or gratings are illuminated by highly coherent light or particle beams. Typical diffraction patterns known as quantum carpets are then observed. Here the authors provide an insightful picture of this nonlocal phenomenon as well as its classical limit in terms of Bohmian mechanics, also showing the causal reasons and conditions that explain its appearance. As an illustration, theoretical results obtained from diffraction of thermal He atoms by both N-slit arrays and weak corrugated surfaces are analyzed and discussed. Moreover, the authors also explain in terms of what they call the Talbot-Beeby effect how realistic interaction potentials induce shifts and distortions in the corresponding quantum carpets.
The second-order Talbot effect is analyzed for a periodic object illuminated by entangled photon pairs in both the quantum imaging and quantum lithography configurations. The Klyshko picture is applied to describe the quantum imaging scheme, in which self-images of the object that may or may not be magnified can be observed nonlocally in the photon coincidences but not in the singles count rate. In the quantum lithography setup, we find that the second-order Talbot length is half that of the classical first-order case, thus the resolution may be improved by a factor of two.
The self-imaging, or Talbot Effect, that occurs with the propagation of periodically structured waves has enabled several unique applications in optical metrology, image processing, data transmission, and matter-wave interferometry. In this work, we report on the first demonstration of a Talbot Effect with single photons prepared in a lattice of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. We observe that upon propagation, the wavefronts of the single photons manifest self-imaging whereby the OAM lattice intensity profile is recovered. Furthermore, we show that the intensity at fractional Talbot dis…
Recent progress in matter-wave interferometry aims to directly probe the quantum properties of matter on ever increasing scales. However, in order to perform interferometric experiments with massive mesoscopic objects, taking into account the constraints on the experimental set-ups, the point-like particle approximation needs to be cast aside. In this work, we consider near-field interferometry based on the Talbot effects with a single optical grating for large spherical particles beyond the point-particle approximation. We account for the suppression of the coherent grating effect and, at the…
Talbot effect in the space-time evolution of matter waves is analyzed and shown that the matter waves at relativistic and non-relativistic velocities exhibit coherence beyond the grating and display Talbot self-imaging. The grating is realized by considering equidistant narrowly peaked coherent probability distributions at the onset. Theoretical frame work is based on a quantum particle at relativistic and non-relativistic velocities in a one dimensional box. The matter waves, in their evolution, display Talbot self-imaging and fractional self-imaging as restructuring, respectively, at Talbot …
We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution, allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.
Time-frequency Talbot effect as Clifford operations on entangled time-frequency GKP states
Télécom Paris-LTCI, Institut Polytechnique de Paris（巴黎电信学院-LTCI，巴黎理工学院）；Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de physique de Nice（蔚蓝海岸大学，法国国家科学研究中心，尼斯物理研究所）
Single photon interference due to passage through a periodic grating is considered in a novel proposal for processing D-dimensional quantum systems (quDits) encoded in the spatial degrees of freedom of light. We show that free space propagation naturally implements basic single quDit gates by means of the Talbot effect: an intricate time-space carpet of light in the near field diffraction regime. Adding a diagonal phase gate, we show that a complete set of single quDit gates can be implemented. We then introduce a spatially-dependent beam splitter that allows implementation of controlled opera…
We demonstrate the quantum Talbot effect using pairs of single photons produced by parametric down conversion. In contrast to the previous works, we use a programmable spatial light modulator to behave as a diffraction grating. Thus, the investigation of the Talbot diffraction patterns under the variation of grating structure can be easily performed. The influence of spectral bandwidth of the down-converted photons on the diffraction pattern is also investigated. A theoretical model based on the wave nature of photons is presented to explain the Talbot diffraction pattern under varying conditi…
We show that complex PT-symmetric photonic lattices can lead to a new class of self-imaging Talbot effects. For this to occur, we find that the input field pattern, has to respect specific periodicities which are dictated by the symmetries of the system. While at the spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking point, the image revivals occur at Talbot lengths governed by the characteristics of the passive lattice, at the exact phase it depends on the gain and loss parameter thus allowing one to control the imaging process.
By modulating transmission function of a weak probe field via a strong control standing wave, an electromagnetically induced grating can be created in the probe channel. Such a nonmaterial grating may lead to self-imaging of ultra-cold atoms or molecules in the Fresnel near-field regime. This work may offer a nondestructive and lensless way to image ultra-cold atoms or molecules.
The Talbot effect, i.e. the self-imaging property of a periodic wave in near-field diffraction, is a remarkable interference phenomenon in paraxial systems with continuous translational invariance. In crystals, i.e. systems with discrete translational invariance, self-imaging has been regarded so far as a seldom effect, restricted to special sets of initial field distributions. Here it is shown that in a class of gapless $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric complex crystals at the symmetry breaking threshold Talbot revivals can arise for almost any initial periodic wave distribution which is commensurate …
The Talbot effect in quantum physics is known to produce intricate patterns in the probability distribution of a particle, known as "quantum carpets", corresponding to the revival and replication of the initial wave function. Recently, it was shown that one can encode a $D$-level qudit, in such a way that the Talbot effect can be used to process the $D$-dimensional quantum information [Far\'ıas et al, PRA (2015)]. Here we introduce a scheme to produce free-propagating "entangled quantum carpets" with pairs of photons produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. First we introduce an opt…
Transformation of the Talbot effect in response to phase disorder
Lomonosov Moscow State University（莫斯科国立大学）；A.V. Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院阿·瓦·加蓬诺夫-格雷霍夫应用物理研究所）；Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Metrological Institute of Technical Physics and Radioengineering”（联邦国家单一制企业“俄罗斯技术物理与无线电工程计量研究所”）
