Quantum Object Photon
For Student Groups
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What properties do individual quantum objects have? Does a measurement influence the state of a quantum object? In this course, you will use experiments and simulations to investigate the behavior of individual photons at beam splitters and in interferometers.
- Age
- 16 to 21 years
- Duration
- 1 day
- Maximum number of participants
- 18
Experiments
- Single photons at a beam splitter
- Coincidence and stochastic predictability
- Construction of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer
- Interference in experiments and simulations
Experiments on single quantum objects are challenging and enlightening. In this course, participants will investigate the quantum object photon in a series of experiments and simulations.
After an introduction to the generation and measurement of single photons, the first experiment focuses on the behavior of single photons at a beam splitter. The evaluation focuses on coincidence methods and stochastic predictability. In the second part of the course, participants build their own Mach-Zehnder interferometers to investigate interference effects and operate them with laser light. They examine the behavior of single photons in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer in corresponding simulations. The comparison of experiment and simulation and the interpretation of the results focus on complementarity, quantum mechanical states and their superposition as well as the concept of phase.
In the concluding outlook, interaction-free measurements, quantum mechanical entanglement and their technological use, for example in interception-proof data transmission and in quantum computers, are discussed.
Keywords
Quantum objects; coincidence measurements; photons in the interferometer; interpretation of quantum physics