Mixed cat states at low purity of light

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation of highly mixed quantum superposition states, called mixed cat states, in an optical waveguide using low purity light, highlighting their decoherence and recoherence behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate mixed Schrödinger cat states from low purity light in optical waveguides, supported by numerical simulations.

Findings

Mixed cat states can be generated at specific propagation distances.

Long-term decoherence and recoherence are observable in these states.

Numerical simulations confirm the feasibility with practical parameters.

Abstract

Pure states are usually used to observe quantum phenomena. In this study, we show that a quantum superposition of spatially displaced mixed cat states can be generated within an optical waveguide via nonparaxial unitary evolution of the initial low coherence (low purity) light beam. It is shown that highly mixed Schrodinger cat states can be observed at a well-defined propagation distance. The importance of the long-term decoherence and recoherence of the original wave packet in observing the mixed cat states is demonstrated. The Heisenberg and Schrodinger-Robertson uncertainty relations for mixed cat states are evaluated. We have demonstrated the feasibility of our method using accurate numerical simulations for the parameters of the source and optical waveguide available in practice.