Entanglement-induced collective many-body interference.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39213353.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adp9030 and PMC identifier 11364098.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Entanglement and interference are both hallmark effects of quantum physics. Particularly rich dynamics arise when multiple (at least partially) indistinguishable particles are subjected to either of these phenomena. By combining both entanglement and many-particle interference, we propose an interferometric setting through which <i>N</i>-particle interference can be observed, while any interference of lower orders is strictly suppressed. We experimentally demonstrate this effect in a four-photon interferometer, where the interference is nonlocal, in principle, as only pairs of photons interfere at two separate and independent beam splitters. A joint detection of all four photons identifies a high-visibility interference pattern varying as a function of their collective four-particle phase, a genuine four-body property.