Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-26-2024

Abstract

The Quantum Cheshire Cat experiment showed that when weak measurements are performed on pre- and post-selected system, the counterintuitive result has been obtained that a neutron is measured to be in one place without its spin, and its spin is measured to be in another place without the neutron. A generalization of this effect is presented with a massive particle whose mass is measured to be in one place with no momentum, while the momentum is measured to be in another place without the mass. The new result applies to any massive particle, independent of its spin or charge. A gedanken experiment which illustrates this effect is presented using a nested pair of Mach-Zehnder interferometers, but with some of the mirrors and beam splitters moving relative to the laboratory frame. The titular interpretation of this experiment is extremely controversial, and rests on several assumptions, which are discussed in detail. An alternative interpretation using the counterparticle model of Aharonov et al. is also discussed.

Comments

This article was originally published in Quantum, volume 8, in 2024. https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2024-11-26-1536

Peer Reviewed

1

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The authors

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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