When does a particle arrive?
1Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Agostino Bassi 6, I-27100, Pavia, Italy
2INFN Sezione di Pavia, Via Agostino Bassi 6, I-27100, Pavia, Italy
3Instytut Fizyki imienia Mariana Smoluchowskiego, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, ulica Profesora Stanisława Łojasiewicza 11, PL-30-348 Kraków, Poland
Published: | 2023-03-30, volume 7, page 968 |
Eprint: | arXiv:2205.02219v4 |
Doi: | https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2023-03-30-968 |
Citation: | Quantum 7, 968 (2023). |
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Abstract
We compare the proposals that have appeared in the literature to describe a measurement of the time of arrival of a quantum particle at a detector. We show that there are multiple regimes where different proposals give inequivalent, experimentally discriminable, predictions. This analysis paves the way for future experimental tests.
![](https://quantum-journal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/FrontImage-3.png)
Featured image: A particle prepared in a superposition of two Gaussian wave packets. When the packets overlap near the detector, time of arrival interference is observed.
Popular summary
We identify realizable regimes for experimentally discriminating these approaches. Our results show that discrepancies appear in strongly quantum regimes, namely when the particle displays quantum interference in the time of arrival: destructive interference at times when it is less likely to detect the particle, constructive interference when detection is more likely to happen.
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► References
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[4] Ruben E. Araújo, Ricardo Ximenes, and Eduardo O. Dias, "Space-time-symmetric extension of quantum mechanics: Interpretation and arrival-time predictions", Physical Review A 109 1, 012221 (2024).
[5] Ali Ayatollah Rafsanjani, MohammadJavad Kazemi, Vahid Hosseinzadeh, and Mehdi Golshani, "Non-local temporal interference", Scientific Reports 14 1, 3615 (2024).
[6] Pascal Naidon, "Inequivalence of stochastic and Bohmian arrival times in time-of-flight experiments", Physical Review A 109 6, 063312 (2024).
[7] Ranjan Modak and S. Aravinda, "Non-Hermitian description of sharp quantum resetting", arXiv:2303.03790, (2023).
[8] Tajron Jurić and Hrvoje Nikolić, "Passive Quantum Measurement: Arrival Time, Quantum Zeno Effect and Gambler's Fallacy", Fortschritte der Physik 71 10-11, 2300014 (2023).
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