Many-particle interference to test Born's rule

Born's rule relates detection probabilities to the modulus square of the wave function. It is one of the central principles of quantum mechanics together with that of linear superposition. Single-particle interference is accordingly limited to pairs of quantum paths and higher-order interferenc...

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Main Authors: Marc-Oliver Pleinert, Joachim von Zanthier, Eric Lutz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2020-02-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.012051
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author Marc-Oliver Pleinert
Joachim von Zanthier
Eric Lutz
author_facet Marc-Oliver Pleinert
Joachim von Zanthier
Eric Lutz
author_sort Marc-Oliver Pleinert
collection DOAJ
description Born's rule relates detection probabilities to the modulus square of the wave function. It is one of the central principles of quantum mechanics together with that of linear superposition. Single-particle interference is accordingly limited to pairs of quantum paths and higher-order interferences are prohibited. Deviations from Born's law have been quantified via the Sorkin parameter which is proportional to the third-order term. However, while the linearity of quantum theory has been experimentally tested to the level of 10^{−20} eV, the Sorkin parameter has only been measured to an accuracy of 2×10^{−3} in the quantum regime. We here investigate Born's law using many-particle interferences and demonstrate that all interference terms of order (2M+1) and greater vanish for M particles. We further introduce a family of many-particle Sorkin parameters and show that they are exponentially more sensitive to deviations from Born's rule than their single-particle counterpart.
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spelling doaj.art-852d4848d5e346c6b144a75fe3eacf0c2024-04-12T16:50:36ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-02-012101205110.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.012051Many-particle interference to test Born's ruleMarc-Oliver PleinertJoachim von ZanthierEric LutzBorn's rule relates detection probabilities to the modulus square of the wave function. It is one of the central principles of quantum mechanics together with that of linear superposition. Single-particle interference is accordingly limited to pairs of quantum paths and higher-order interferences are prohibited. Deviations from Born's law have been quantified via the Sorkin parameter which is proportional to the third-order term. However, while the linearity of quantum theory has been experimentally tested to the level of 10^{−20} eV, the Sorkin parameter has only been measured to an accuracy of 2×10^{−3} in the quantum regime. We here investigate Born's law using many-particle interferences and demonstrate that all interference terms of order (2M+1) and greater vanish for M particles. We further introduce a family of many-particle Sorkin parameters and show that they are exponentially more sensitive to deviations from Born's rule than their single-particle counterpart.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.012051
spellingShingle Marc-Oliver Pleinert
Joachim von Zanthier
Eric Lutz
Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
Physical Review Research
title Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
title_full Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
title_fullStr Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
title_full_unstemmed Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
title_short Many-particle interference to test Born's rule
title_sort many particle interference to test born s rule
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.012051
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AT ericlutz manyparticleinterferencetotestbornsrule