Experimental Evidence for a Dynamical Non-locality Induced Effect in Quantum Interference Using Weak Values

Abstract

The quantum theoretical concepts of modular momentum and dynamical non-locality, which were introduced four decades ago, have recently been used to explain single particle quantum interference phenomena. Although the non-local exchange of modular momentum associated with such phenomena cannot be directly observed, it has been suggested that effects induced by this exchange can be measured experimentally using weak measurements of pre-and post-selected ensembles of particles. This paper reports on such an optical experiment that yielded measured weak values that were consistent with the theoretical prediction of an effect induced by a non-local exchange of modular momentum.

Exact pointer theories for von Neumann projector measurements of pre- and postselected and preselected-only quantum systems: statistical mixtures and weak value persistence

“…Each of these translations yielded a PPS measurement of in which the associated mirror displacement corresponded to the interaction strength γ and produced a transverse shift in the observed spatial distribution profile of the light exiting one of the ports in the output beamsplitter of the second MZI. The mean position of this profile in the laboratory reference frame served as the measurement pointer (for additional theoretical and experimental details the reader is invited to consult [25][26][27]). …”

A Pointer Theory Explanation of Weak Value Persistence Occurring in the Quantum Three Box Experimental Data

“…The measurement and interpretation of the weak values of projectors have also played central roles in recent experimental observations of dynamical quantum nonlocality-induced effects, e.g. [7,8], as well as in the theoretical and experimental resolution of "Hardy's paradox", e.g. [9,10], and the "quantum box problem", e.g.…”

Methods used to observe a dynamical quantum nonlocality effect in a twin Mach–Zehnder interferometer

“…An optical experiment was recently performed by the authors in which a predicted effect related to the nonlocal exchange of quantum mechanical modular momentum [1][2][3] was observed for the first time [4]. The subtleness of this effect is due to the nonlocal exchange of modular momentum that cannot be observed directly; however, it was theoretically predicted that such a nonlocal exchange would indirectly manifest itself in a twin Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) and could be observed as an induced simultaneous change in the weak value of the photon occupation number measured along a particular path within the interferometer [5].…”

“…This paper is referred to in the concluding remarks section of [4] to explain the novel aspects of the apparatus and techniques in the optical experiment. This paper contains a brief summary of the fundamental theories underlying the experiment along with a brief review of the experiment and the architecture of the MZI apparatus used in it for the sake of completeness.…”

“…This paper contains a brief summary of the fundamental theories underlying the experiment along with a brief review of the experiment and the architecture of the MZI apparatus used in it for the sake of completeness. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a more detailed description than was reported in [4] of the techniques, i.e., methods and procedures, used in the experiment. Because of the high quality of the data obtained, special emphasis is placed upon the apparatus stabilization and the novel method employed to produce and control the small photon-apparatus interactions needed for the required measurements of the weak values of the photon occupation number.…”