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University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Quantum Physics

Kapitza-Dirac effect

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Testing Quantum Coherence In Stochastic Electrodynamics With Squeezed Schrödinger Cat States, Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang, Herman Batelaan Apr 2019

Testing Quantum Coherence In Stochastic Electrodynamics With Squeezed Schrödinger Cat States, Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang, Herman Batelaan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The interference pattern in electron double-slit diffraction is a hallmark of quantum mechanics. A long-standing question for stochastic electrodynamics (SED) is whether or not it is capable of reproducing such effects, as interference is a manifestation of quantum coherence. In this study, we used excited harmonic oscillators to directly test this quantum feature in SED. We used two counter-propagating dichromatic laser pulses to promote a ground-state harmonic oscillator to a squeezed Schrödinger cat state. Upon recombination of the two well-separated wavepackets, an interference pattern emerges in the quantum probability distribution but is absent in the SED probability distribution. We thus …


Spin-Dependent Two-Color Kapitza-Dirac Effects, Scot Mcgregor, Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang, Herman Batelaan, Bradley Allan Shadwick Aug 2015

Spin-Dependent Two-Color Kapitza-Dirac Effects, Scot Mcgregor, Wayne Cheng-Wei Huang, Herman Batelaan, Bradley Allan Shadwick

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

In this paper we present an analysis of the spin behavior of electrons propagating through a laser field. We present an experimentally realizable scenario in which spin-dependent effects of the interaction between the laser and the electrons are dominant. The laser interaction strength and incident electron velocity are in the nonrelativistic domain. This analysis may thus lead to novel methods of creating and characterizing spin-polarized nonrelativistic femtosecond electron pulses.