Weak measurements and quantum-to-classical transitions in free electron–photon interactions

Pan Y, Cohen E, Karimi E, Gover A, Schönenberger N, Chlouba T, Wang K, Nehemia S, Hommelhoff P, Kaminer I, Aharonov Y (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Light: Science & Applications CIOMP

Book Volume: 12

Article Number: 267

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41377-023-01292-2

Abstract

How does the quantum-to-classical transition of measurement occur? This question is vital for both foundations and applications of quantum mechanics. Here, we develop a new measurement-based framework for characterizing the classical and quantum free electron–photon interactions and then experimentally test it. We first analyze the transition from projective to weak measurement in generic light–matter interactions and show that any classical electron-laser-beam interaction can be represented as an outcome of weak measurement. In particular, the appearance of classical point-particle acceleration is an example of an amplified weak value resulting from weak measurement. A universal factor, exp(− Γ 2/ 2) , quantifies the measurement regimes and their transition from quantum to classical, where Γ corresponds to the ratio between the electron wavepacket size and the optical wavelength. This measurement-based formulation is experimentally verified in both limits of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy and the classical acceleration regime using a DLA. Our results shed new light on the transition from quantum to classical electrodynamics, enabling us to employ the essence of the wave-particle duality of both light and electrons in quantum measurement for exploring and applying many quantum and classical light–matter interactions.

Authors with CRIS profile

Norbert Schönenberger Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik Tomas Chlouba Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik Peter Hommelhoff Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik

Additional Organisation(s)

FAU Profilzentrum Licht.Materie.Quantentechnologien (FAU LMQ)

Involved external institutions

Tel Aviv University IL Israel (IL) University of Ottawa CA Canada (CA) Technion - Israel Institute of Technology IL Israel (IL) ShanghaiTech University / 上海科技大学 CN China (CN) Bar-Ilan University IL Israel (IL)

How to cite

APA:

Pan, Y., Cohen, E., Karimi, E., Gover, A., Schönenberger, N., Chlouba, T.,... Aharonov, Y. (2023). Weak measurements and quantum-to-classical transitions in free electron–photon interactions. Light: Science & Applications, 12(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41377-023-01292-2

MLA:

Pan, Yiming, et al. "Weak measurements and quantum-to-classical transitions in free electron–photon interactions." Light: Science & Applications 12.1 (2023).

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