Splitting the wavefunctions of two particles in two boxes

Abstract

I consider two identical quantum particles in two boxes. We can split each box, and thereby the wavefunction of each particle, into two parts. When two half boxes are interchanged and combined with the other halves, where do the two particles end up? I solve this problem for two identical bosons and for two identical fermions. The solution can be used to define a measurement that yields some information about the relative phase between the two parts of a split wavefunction.

The following article has been submitted to the American Journal of Physics. After it is published, it will be found at http://scitation.aip.org/ajp

References in corpus (1)

• Reference frames, superselection rules, and quantum information

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Particle in a box with a time-dependent $\delta$-function potential