An atomic Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment

Abstract

The celebrated Hong, Ou and Mandel (HOM) effect is one of the simplest illustrations of two-particle interference, and is unique to the quantum realm. In the original experiment, two photons arriving simultaneously in the input channels of a beam-splitter were observed to always emerge together in one of the output channels. Here, we report on the realisation of a closely analogous experiment with atoms instead of photons. This opens the prospect of testing Bell's inequalities involving mechanical observables of massive particles, such as momentum, using methods inspired by quantum optics, with an eye on theories of the quantum-to-classical transition. Our work also demonstrates a new way to produce and benchmark twin-atom pairs that may be of interest for quantum information processing and quantum simulation.

References in corpus (5)

• Atom Interferometers
• Twin matter waves for interferometry beyond the classical limit
• Coherence and Indistinguishability of Single Electrons Emitted by Independent Sources
• Sub-Poissonian number differences in four-wave mixing of matter waves
• Proposal for a motional-state Bell inequality test with ultracold atoms

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Entanglement by Path Identity
• A trapped atom interferometer with ultracold Sr atoms
• Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference between Two Deterministic Collective Excitations in an Atomic Ensemble
• Proposal for a motional-state Bell inequality test with ultracold atoms
• Two-particle interference of electron pairs on a molecular level
• Fast production of Bose-Einstein condensates of metastable Helium
• How a single particle modifies the physical reality of two distant others simultaneously: a quantum nonlocality and weak value study
• Statistical signatures of states orthogonal to the Fock-state ladder of composite bosons
• Performing Hong-Ou-Mandel-type Numerical Experiments with Repulsive Condensates: The case of Dark and Dark-bright Solitons