Weak measurements and quantum-to-classical transitions in free electron-photon interactions.
Journal
Light, science & applications
ISSN: 2047-7538
Titre abrégé: Light Sci Appl
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101610753
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023
Historique:
received:
10
09
2023
accepted:
20
09
2023
medline:
8
11
2023
pubmed:
8
11
2023
entrez:
8
11
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
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, [Formula: see text], quantifies the measurement regimes and their transition from quantum to classical, where [Formula: see text] 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.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37938234
doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01292-2
pii: 10.1038/s41377-023-01292-2
pmc: PMC10632359
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
267Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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