2011/06/03 by Sacha Kocsis, Boris Braverman, Sylvain Ravets +4 · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Computer Science · #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1202218
openalex publication_date 2011/06/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
A consequence of the quantum mechanical uncertainty principle is that one may not discuss the path or "trajectory" that a quantum particle takes, because any measurement of position irrevocably disturbs the momentum, and vice versa. Using weak measurements, however, it is possible to operationally define a set of trajectories for an ensemble of quantum particles. We sent single photons emitted by a quantum dot through a double-slit interferometer and reconstructed these trajectories by performing a weak measurement of the photon momentum, postselected according to the result of a strong measurement of photon position in a series of planes. The results provide an observationally grounded description of the propagation of subensembles of quantum particles in a two-slit interferometer.