Quantum “Ghosts”

Can you pick a complex subject in quantum mechanics and discuss it with a minimum number of equations, in a simplified form that the general scientific public could understand? This was a question presented to graduate students of the one-year Quantum Mechanics course based on the text book Modern Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai and Jim Napolitano, at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. The first seven authors of this paper are graduate students (alphabetical order) that accepted to try it. The chosen subject was “delocalized quantum states”, and it will be discussed using colloquial terms like quantum ghosts, spooky action, splitting beings and invisibility cloak.

Keywords:
delocalized state; interference effects; double slit experiment

Authorship

Gabriela M. Amaral

Instituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin”, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-859, Campinas, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Estadual de CampinasBrazilCampinas, São Paulo, BrazilInstituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin”, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-859, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

David Q. Aruquipa

Ludwing F. M. Camacho

Luiz F. C. Faria

Sofía I. C. Guzmán

Damaris T. Maimone

Melissa Mendes

Marco A. P. Lima ^**Endereço de correspondência: maplima@ifi.unicamp.br.

*Endereço de correspondência: maplima@ifi.unicamp.br.

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Figures | Formulas

Figures (4)
Formulas (3)

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Figure 1
Double slit experiment results. The bottom panel represents the collision count process, considering slit 1 open and slit 2 closed (left side) for 10 minutes and then slit 1 closed and slit 2 open for another 10 minutes. The top panel has two curves, red line is just the sum of the counting process above and the blue line is for slit 1 and 2 open at the same time for 10 minutes.

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Figure 2
Pictorial figure for the double slit experiment. It represents a ghost (wave function) being split into two pieces, where each each piece is submitted to a different environment. The pieces are then put together and the compounded ghost commands the probability of the particle to mark the film in a determined position. The trick is to compare the resulting interference figure with one where the pieces traveled under the same environmental conditions.

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Figure 3
Conceptual interference experiment where A, B, C, D and E are suitable devices to divide a wave packet (ghost splitting), of a particle arriving in A, and make each piece experience a different potential, V₁ or V₂. F is the meeting region of the split ghost which contains the film for measuring the particle arrival.

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Figure 4
Observation of the Aharanov-Bohm effect for the vector potential. Dotted lines represent the deflected pattern [¹⁹[19] T.H. Boyer, Physical Review D 8, 1679 (1973).].

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Figure 4
Observation of the Aharanov-Bohm effect for the vector potential. Dotted lines represent the deflected pattern [¹⁹[19] T.H. Boyer, Physical Review D 8, 1679 (1973).].

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Figure 1 Double slit experiment results. The bottom panel represents the collision count process, considering slit 1 open and slit 2 closed (left side) for 10 minutes and then slit 1 closed and slit 2 open for another 10 minutes. The top panel has two curves, red line is just the sum of the counting process above and the blue line is for slit 1 and 2 open at the same time for 10 minutes.

Figure 2 Pictorial figure for the double slit experiment. It represents a ghost (wave function) being split into two pieces, where each each piece is submitted to a different environment. The pieces are then put together and the compounded ghost commands the probability of the particle to mark the film in a determined position. The trick is to compare the resulting interference figure with one where the pieces traveled under the same environmental conditions.

Figure 3 Conceptual interference experiment where A, B, C, D and E are suitable devices to divide a wave packet (ghost splitting), of a particle arriving in A, and make each piece experience a different potential, V₁ or V₂. F is the meeting region of the split ghost which contains the film for measuring the particle arrival.

Figure 4 Observation of the Aharanov-Bohm effect for the vector potential. Dotted lines represent the deflected pattern [¹⁹[19] T.H. Boyer, Physical Review D 8, 1679 (1973).].

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Este documento possui uma errata:

10.1590/1806-9126-RBEF-2016-0052er

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Quantum “Ghosts”

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[1] *Endereço de correspondência: maplima@ifi.unicamp.br.