WhichWayDidItGo?

TheQuantumEraser
FrankRioux
ChemistryDepartment
CSB|SJU
PaulKwiatandRachelHillmer,anundergraduateresearchassistant,publishedADoItYourself
QuantumEraserbasedonthedoubleslitexperimentintheMay2007issueofScientificAmerican.The
purposeofthistutorialistoshowthequantummathbehindthelaserdemonstrationsillustratedin
thisarticle.
HillmerandKwiatcreatedthedoublesliteffectbyilluminatingathinwirewithalaserbeam.They
carriedoutanumberofdemonstrationswithlaserlightandpolarizingfilmsusinganexperimental
setupthateffectivelyisasshownschematicallybelow.
Assuming(initially)infinitesimallythinslits,thephotonwavefunctionattheslitscreenisan
entangledsuperpositionofbeingatslit1withverticalpolarizationandslit2withpolarizationatan
angleurelativetothevertical.Thisentanglementprovideswhichwayinformationifuisnotequalto
0and,therefore,hasanimportanteffectonthediffractionpattern.
1 2
1
2
x v x u + = + (

Thisstateisprojectedonto|andpbecausea|orientedpolarizer(eraser)precedesthedetection
screenandbecauseadiffractionpatternisactuallythemomentumdistributionofthescattered
photons.Inotherwords,positionismeasuredattheslitscreenandmomentumismeasuredatthe
detectionscreen.
1 2
1
2
p p x v p x | | | u + = + (

Thepolarizationbrackets(amplitudes)areeasilyshowntobethetrigonometricfunctionsshown
below.
1 2
1
cos( ) cos( )
2
p p x p x | | u | + = + (

Thepositionmomentumbracketsarethepositioneigenstatesinthemomentumrepresentationand
aregivenby,
1
exp
2
ipx
p x
t
| |
=
|
\ .

Thisallowsustowrite,
1 2
1 1 1
exp cos( ) exp cos( )
2 2 2
ipx ipx
p| | u |
t t
( | | | |
+ = +
| | (
\ . \ .

Workinginatomicunits(h=2t)andnowassumingslitsoffinitewidththisexpressionbecomes,
Slitpositions: x
1
1 := x
2
2 := Slitwidth: o .2 :=
+ p u , | ,
( )
x
1
o
2

x
1
o
2
+
x
1
2 t
exp i p x ( )
1
o

(
(
(
(
]
d cos |
( )

x
2
o
2

x
2
o
2
+
x
1
2 t
exp i p x ( )
1
o

(
(
(
(
]
d cos u |
( )
+
2
:=
Thesquareoftheabsolutemagnitudeofthisfunctionyieldsarepresentationofthediffractionpattern
asahistogramofphotonarrivalsonthedetectionscreen.Theresultsshowninthefigurewillbe
discussedbelow.
Histogram of Detected Photons
+ p 0 , 0 , ( ) ( )
2
+ p
t
2
, 0 ,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
2
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
p
DiscussionofResults
Thepolarizeratslit1isalwaysorientedverticallysoonlytheorientations(uand|)oftheother
polarizersneedtobespecified.
[u=0;|=0]Thephotonsemergingfromtheslitsareverticallypolarizedandencounteravertical
polarizerbeforethedetectionscreen.Thisisthereferenceexperimentandyieldsthetraditional
diffractionpattern,asshownbytheplotof + p 0 , 0 , ( )
( )
2
.Thereisnowhichwayinformationinthis
experimentand100%ofthephotonsemergingfromtheverticallypolarizedslitscreenreachthe
detectionscreen.

p + p 0 , 0 , ( )
( )
2
(
(
]
d float 3 , 1.00
[u=t/2,|=0]and[u=t/2,|=t/2]Thecrossedpolarizersattheslitscreenprovidewhichway
informationandtheinterferencefringesdisappearifthethirdpolarizerisverticallyorhorizontally
oriented.Thisisshownbytheplotsof + p
t
2
, 0 ,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
and + p
t
2
,
t
2
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
.Furthermore,relativeto
thereferenceexperiment,50%ofthephotonsreachthedetectionscreen.

p + p
t
2
, 0 ,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
(
(
(
(
]
d float 3 , .500

p + p
t
2
,
t
2
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
(
(
(
(
]
d float 3 , .500
Intheabsenceofthethirdpolarizer,thereisalsonodiffractionpatternbut100%ofthephotons
reachthedetectionscreen.
[u=t/2,|=t/4]and[u=t/2,|=t/4]Thewhichwayinformationprovidedbythecrossed
polarizersattheslitscreeniserasedbydiagonallyandantidiagonallyorientedpolarizersinfrontof
thedetectionscreen.Thisisshownbytheplotsof + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
and + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
.Thereason
thewhichwayinformationhasbeenerasedisthatverticallyandhorizontallypolarizedphotons
emergingfromslits1and2bothhavea50%chanceofpassingthediagonallyorantidiagonally
orientedthirdpolarizer.Thus,itisimpossibletodeterminetheoriginofaphotonthatpassesthethird
polarizerandtheinterferencefringesarerestored.Again,forthisexperiment50%ofthephotonsreach
thedetectionscreen.

p + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
(
(
(
(
]
d float 3 , .500

p + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
(
(
(
(
]
d float 3 , .500
Theshiftintheinterferencefringescalculatedfor + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
and + p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
isobservedin
theKwiat/Hillmerexperiment.
Thevisibilityoftherestoredfringesismaximizedfor|=+/t/4.Asthefigurebelowsshowsthe
visibilityisreducedforothervaluesof|.
Histogram of Detected Photons
+ p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
16
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
8
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
p
Itispossibletoanimatetherotationofthepolarizerinfrontofthedetectionscreen,theeraser.From
ToolsselectAnimationandusethefollowingsetting:From:0To:120At:5Frames/Sec.
Animating the Rotation of the Eraser
ExplicitVectorApproach
Inwhatfollowsanexplicitvectorapproachtotheanalysisaboveisprovided.
1 2
1 2 1 2
2
cos( ) 1 cos( )
1 1 1
sin( ) 0 sin( )
2 2 2
p
p x p x
x v x x x
p x
u u
u
u u
| + | ( | | | |
+ ( = +
| ( | |

\ . \ . \ .
Assumingfiniteslitwidths,the<p|x>amplitudesbecomeintegralsasoutlinedabove.Theappropriate
Mathcadexpressionanditsgraphicaldisplayisshownbelow.
+ p u ,
( )
1
2 t
x
1
o
2

x
1
o
2
+
x exp i p x ( )
1
o

(
(
(
(
]
d cos u
( )
x
2
o
2

x
2
o
2
+
x exp i p x ( )
1
o

(
(
(
(
]
d +
sin u
( )
x
2
o
2

x
2
o
2
+
x exp i p x ( )
1
o

(
(
(
(
]
d
|

\
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.
:=
Histogram of Detected Photons
+ p 0 , ( ) ( )
2
+ p
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
3
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
p
Next+(p,u)isprojectedontotheeraserpolarizerorientedatanangle|, andtheprobability
distributionsforseveralcombinationsofuand|aredisplayed.
( ) ( )
1 2
2
cos( )
1
, , cos( ) sin( )
sin( )
2
p x p x
p
p x
u
u | | |
u
| + |
+ =
|
\ .
+ p u , | ,
( )
cos |
( )
sin |
( ) ( )
+ p u ,
( )
:=
Histogram of Detected Photons
+ p 0 , 0 , ( ) ( )
2
+ p
t
2
, 0 ,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
2
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
+ p
t
2
,
t
4
,
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
2
p