2009/11/30 by F. A. Torres-Ruiz, G. Lima, A. Delgado +2
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Interferometry #Mach–Zehnder interferometer #Neural Networks and Reservoir Computing #Optics #Photon #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum decoherence #Quantum mechanics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.81.042104
Accepted in Physical Review A
arxiv created 2010/03/22 · openalex publication_date 2010/04/07 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study and experimentally implement a double-slit quantum eraser in the presence of a controlled decoherence mechanism. A two-photon state, produced in a spontaneous parametric down-conversion process, is prepared in a maximally entangled polarization state. A birefringent double slit is illuminated by one of the down-converted photons, and it acts as a single-photon two-qubits controlled-not gate that couples the polarization with the transversal momentum of these photons. The other photon, which acts as a which-path marker, is sent through a Mach-Zehnder-like interferometer. When the interferometer is partially unbalanced, it behaves as a controlled source of decoherence for polarization states of down-converted photons. We show the transition from wavelike to particle-like behavior of the signal photons crossing the double slit as a function of the decoherence parameter, which depends on the length path difference at the interferometer.