Detection of massive multi-particle beams by two-particle ionization

TL;DR

This paper explores the concept of multi-particle detection in massive particle beams, showing that two-particle ionization events can modify detection probabilities similarly to multi-photon absorption phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for detecting massive multi-particle beams via two-particle ionization, highlighting a correction to standard detection probabilities.

Findings

Two-particle detection introduces a correction proportional to the wavefunction's fourth power.

The correction affects the probability calculations for multi-particle beam detection.

The process parallels multi-photon absorption in quantum optics.

Abstract

Multi-photon absorption is a well-known phenomenon. With atom lasers a similar process could take place for massive particles, the ionization of an atom or molecule by the successive interaction with various particles. This process would lead to multi-particle detection events for incident multi-particle beams. We show that two-particle detections would introduce a correction (proportional to the fourth power of the wavefunction modulus) to the usual one-particle detection probability (only proportional to the second power).