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Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry

The quantum wave function measurement of a free electron remains challenging in quantum mechanics and is subject to disputes about ψ-ontic/epistemic interpretations of the wave function. Here, we theoretically propose a realistic spectral method for reconstructing quantum wave function of an electro...

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Autores principales: Chen, Zhaopin, Zhang, Bin, Pan, Yiming, Krüger, Michael
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10328397/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37418516
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8516
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author Chen, Zhaopin
Zhang, Bin
Pan, Yiming
Krüger, Michael
author_facet Chen, Zhaopin
Zhang, Bin
Pan, Yiming
Krüger, Michael
author_sort Chen, Zhaopin
collection PubMed
description The quantum wave function measurement of a free electron remains challenging in quantum mechanics and is subject to disputes about ψ-ontic/epistemic interpretations of the wave function. Here, we theoretically propose a realistic spectral method for reconstructing quantum wave function of an electron pulse, free-electron spectral shearing interferometry (FESSI). We use a Wien filter to generate two time-delayed replicas of the electron wave packet and then shift one replica in energy using a light-electron modulator driven by a mid-infrared laser. As a direct demonstration, we numerically reconstruct a pulsed electron wave function with a kinetic energy of 10 keV. FESSI is experimentally feasible and enables us to fully determine distinct orders of spectral phases and their physical implications in quantum foundations and quantum technologies, providing a universal approach to characterize ultrashort electron pulses.
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spelling pubmed-103283972023-07-08 Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry Chen, Zhaopin Zhang, Bin Pan, Yiming Krüger, Michael Sci Adv Physical and Materials Sciences The quantum wave function measurement of a free electron remains challenging in quantum mechanics and is subject to disputes about ψ-ontic/epistemic interpretations of the wave function. Here, we theoretically propose a realistic spectral method for reconstructing quantum wave function of an electron pulse, free-electron spectral shearing interferometry (FESSI). We use a Wien filter to generate two time-delayed replicas of the electron wave packet and then shift one replica in energy using a light-electron modulator driven by a mid-infrared laser. As a direct demonstration, we numerically reconstruct a pulsed electron wave function with a kinetic energy of 10 keV. FESSI is experimentally feasible and enables us to fully determine distinct orders of spectral phases and their physical implications in quantum foundations and quantum technologies, providing a universal approach to characterize ultrashort electron pulses. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2023-07-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10328397/ /pubmed/37418516 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8516 Text en Copyright © 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Physical and Materials Sciences
Chen, Zhaopin
Zhang, Bin
Pan, Yiming
Krüger, Michael
Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title_full Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title_fullStr Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title_full_unstemmed Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title_short Quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
title_sort quantum wave function reconstruction by free-electron spectral shearing interferometry
topic Physical and Materials Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10328397/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37418516
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8516
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