Saturday, 23 August 2014

quantum mechanics - Interference and which-path information


My understanding is that in a double-slit experiment, quantum interference disappears if which-path information is available. How is available defined? Consider the following experiment:


SPDC is used to create an entangled pair of photons. The signal photon goes through a double-slit with a detector behind it. The idler photon hits the wall of the laboratory. Is which-path information available? After all, theoretically the information carried by the idler could be reconstructed from careful measurement of the wall's properties. In such a case is interference observed? How "available" must which-path information be?




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