Enhanced observability of quantum post-exponential decay using distant detectors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the observability of the transition from exponential to post-exponential quantum decay improves with detector distance, identifying optimal conditions for detection.

Contribution

It demonstrates that detector distance enhances the observability of decay transition and provides explicit models for optimizing detection parameters.

Findings

Probability density at transition increases with detector distance.

Beyond a critical distance, exponential decay is no longer observable.

Explicit models relate transition features to resonance and observational parameters.

Abstract

We study the elusive transition from exponential to post-exponential (algebraic) decay of the probability density of a quantum particle emitted by an exponentially decaying source, in one dimension. The main finding is that the probability density at the transition time, and thus its observability, increases with the distance of the detector from the source, up to a critical distance beyond which exponential decay is no longer observed. Solvable models provide explicit expressions for the dependence of the transition on resonance and observational parameters, facilitating the choice of optimal conditions.