'Quantum Cheshire Cat' as Simple Quantum Interference

Abstract

In a recent work, Aharonov et al. suggested that a photon could be separated from its polarization in an experiment involving pre- and post-selection [New J. Phys 15, 113015 (2013)]. They named the effect 'quantum Cheshire Cat', in a reference to the cat that is separated from its grin in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Following these ideas, Denkmayr et al. performed a neutron interferometric experiment and interpreted the results suggesting that neutrons were separated from their spin [Nat. Commun. 5, 4492 (2014)]. Here we show that these results can be interpreted as simple quantum interference, with no separation between the quantum particle and its internal degree of freedom. We thus hope to clarify the phenomenon with this work, by removing these apparent paradoxes.

5 pages, 3 figures

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• Ultrasensitive Beam Deflection Measurement via Interferometric Weak Value Amplification
• Direct Measurement of the Quantum Wavefunction
• Colloquium: Understanding Quantum Weak Values: Basics and Applications
• Experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice GedankenExperiment
• Experimental violation of a Bell's inequality in time with weak measurement
• A double-slit quantum eraser
• Observation of a quantum Cheshire Cat in a matter wave interferometer experiment
• Geometric phase in weak measurements
• Interpreting a nested Mach-Zehnder interferometer with classical optics
• Observation of a classical cheshire cat in an optical interferometer
• Interaction between light and matter: A photon wave function approach
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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Observation of the quantum paradox of separation of a single photon from one of its properties
• The Quantum Cheshire Cat effect: Theoretical basis and observational implications
• Observing the "quantum Cheshire cat" effect with noninvasive weak measurement
• Can Two Quantum Cheshire Cats Exchange Grins?
• Complementary weak-value amplification with concatenated postselections
• Contextuality, Coherences, and Quantum Cheshire Cats
• Do weak values capture the complete truth about the past of a quantum particle?
• Delayed choice of paths selected by grin and snarl of quantum Cheshire Cat
• Isolating noise and amplifying signal with quantum Cheshire cat
• Disembodiment of arbitrary number of properties in quantum Cheshire cat experiment
• Apparent quantum paradoxes as simple interference: Quantum violation of the pigeonhole principle and exchange of properties between quantum particles
• Association between quantum paradoxes based on weak values and a realistic interpretation of quantum measurements
• Overcoming experimental limitations in a non-linear two-qubit gate through postselection
• Separating a particle's mass from its momentum
• Quantum weak values and the 'which way?' question
• Weak values obtained from mass-energy equivalence
• Post-selection induced deterministic and probabilistic entanglement with strong and weak interactions