Long-lived resonances at mirrors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a two-particle bound system interacts with a mirror, revealing that scattering reduces coherence and can produce long-lived resonances, relevant for interference experiments with composite systems.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of scattering dynamics of composite systems at mirrors, highlighting the emergence of long-lived resonances and coherence reduction.

Findings

Scattering reduces coherence between transmitted and reflected wave-packets.

Long-lived resonances occur when both particles interact directly with the mirror.

Results are relevant for interference experiments with composite systems.

Abstract

Motivated by realistic scattering processes of composite systems, we study the dynamics of a two-particle bound system which is scattered at a mirror. The physics of the scattering process will be discussed in the cases when only one particle interacts directly with the mirror and when both particles are scattered directly. It is shown that the coherence between the transmitted and the reflected wave-packet becomes reduced due to the scattering process. When both particles interact directly with the mirror, the system exhibits long-lived resonances. The results should be of interest for interference experiments with composite systems.