2023/12/08 by Julien Bordes, Bordes, Julien, James R. Brown +9 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Medicine · #Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies #Medical Imaging Techniques and Applications #Nuclear Physics and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.05045
Constraints on the quantum decoherence of entangled γ quanta at the mega-electron-volt scale, such as those produced following positron annihilation, have remained elusive for many decades. We present the first statistically and kinematically precise experimental data for triple Compton scattering of such entangled γ. An entanglement witness (R), relating to the enhancement of the azimuthal correlation between the final scattering planes, is obtained where one of the γ underwent intermediate Compton scattering. The measured R, deconvolved from multiple scattering backgrounds, are found to exceed the classical limit for intermediate scatter angles up to ∼60∘ and diminish at larger angles. The data are consistent with predictions from a first quantum theory of entangled triple Compton scattering as well as a simple model based approach. The results are crucial to future study and utilisation of entangled mega-electron-volt γ in fundamental physics and PET imaging.