https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170291
On the observation of decoherence with a movable mirror
1
Institut für Experimental Physik, Universität Innsbruck,
Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
2
Institut für
Theoretische Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25,
6020 Innsbruck, Austria
3
Dip. di Matematica e Fisica, and
Unità INFM, Università di Camerino, 62032 Camerino, Italy
Corresponding author: a ron.folman@uibk.ac.at
Received:
2
December
1999
Revised:
6
April
2000
Published online: 15 January 2001
Following almost a century of debate on possible "independent of measurement" elements of reality, or "induced" elements of reality - originally invoked as an ad-hoc collapse postulate, we propose a novel line of interference experiments which may be able to examine the regime of induced elements of reality. At the basis of the proposed experiment, lies the hypothesis that models of "induced" elements of reality should exhibit symmetry breaking within quantum evolution. The described symmetry experiment is thus aimed at being able to detect and resolve spatial symmetry breaking signatures. The proposed experiment stands at the edge of present day technological abilities and will be, so we believe, realizable in the near future.
PACS: 03.65.Bz – Foundations, theory of measurement, miscellaneous theories (including Aharonov-Bohm effect, Bell inequalities, Berry's phase) / 42.50.Vk – Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, electrons, and ions / 42.50.Dv – Nonclassical field states; squeezed, antibunched, and sub-Poissonian states; operational definitions of the phase of the field; phase measurements
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2001
