Exotic looped trajectories of photons in three-slit interference.

ABSTRACT: The validity of the superposition principle and of Born's rule are well-accepted tenants of quantum mechanics. Surprisingly, it has been predicted that the intensity pattern formed in a three-slit experiment is seemingly in contradiction with the most conventional form of the superposition principle when exotic looped trajectories are taken into account. However, the probability of observing such paths is typically very small, thus rendering them extremely difficult to measure. Here we confirm the validity of Born's rule and present the first experimental observation of exotic trajectories as additional paths for the light by directly measuring their contribution to the formation of optical interference fringes. We accomplish this by enhancing the electromagnetic near-fields in the vicinit

SUBMITTER: Magana-Loaiza OS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5196392 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature