Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
Weak values, introduced more than 25 years ago, underwent a metamorphosis from a theoretical curiosity to a powerful resource in photonics for exploring foundations of quantum mechanics, as well as a practical laboratory tool. Due to the tiny coherence volume of particles used in matter-wave optics, a straightforward implementation of weak measurements is not feasible. We have overcome this hurdle by developing a method to weakly measure a massive particle's spin component. A neutron optical approach is realized by utilizing neutron interferometry, where the neutron's spin is coupled weakly to its spatial degree of freedom. Here, we present how one can fully characterize the weak value of the Pauli spin operator σˆz of neutrons by extracting its real and imaginary components, as well as its modulus. The results show good agreement with theoretical predictions and demonstrate that the (spin) weak value is actually accessible for a purely quantum system of massive particles.
Recommended Citation
Sponar, S., Denkmayr, T., Geppert, H., Lemmel, H., Matzkin, A., Tollaksen, J., Hasegawa, Y., 2015. Weak values obtained in matter-wave interferometry. Phys. Rev. A 92, 062121. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.92.062121
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
American Physical Society
Comments
This article was originally published in Physical Review A, volume 92, issue 6, in 2015. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.92.062121