Threshold in quantum correlated interference for a particle interacting with two scatterers

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum correlations in a three-body system affect interference patterns, revealing a threshold that distinguishes quantum from classical behavior based on the size of scatterers.

Contribution

It introduces a threshold in correlated interference for a particle interacting with two quantum scatterers, linking interference disappearance to the scatterers' size.

Findings

Interference disappears for microscopic scatterers but appears for mesoscopic ones.

The threshold can verify quantum correlations in many-body systems.

Decoherence of mesoscopic scatterers is determined by this threshold without traditional measurement setups.

Abstract

Correlated interference is calculated for a microscopic particle retro-reflecting from two spatially separated scatterers that are free to move, all three of which are treated as quantum bodies: the positions of the particle traversing this one-dimensional interferometer and those of the interferometer components are all uncertain. Interference in a measurement of only the particle is shown to disappear for microscopic yet appear for mesoscopic scatterers, contrary to that of a quantum-classical transition. A measurement of this threshold can verify quantum correlations in many-body systems by measuring only the retro-reflected microscopic particle. The decoherence of a mesoscopic scatterer is determined by this threshold without it having to traverse slits or beamsplitters.