Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment: Experimental realization and theoretical analysis

Vincent Jacques (1) , E. Wu (1, 2) , Frédéric Grosshans (1) , François Treussart (1) , Alain Aspect (3) , Philippe Grangier (4) , Jean-François Roch (1)

1 LPQM - Laboratoire de Photonique Quantique et Moléculaire
2 Key Laboratory of Optical and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
3 laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Optique atomique
4 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Optique quantique

Wheeler has strikingly illustrated the wave-particle duality by the delayed-choice thought experiment, in which the configuration of a 2-path interferometer is chosen after a single-photon light-pulsed has entered it. We present a quantitative theoretical analysis of an experimental realization of Wheeler's proposal.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Vincent Jacques, E. Wu, Frédéric Grosshans, François Treussart, Alain Aspect, et al.. Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment: Experimental realization and theoretical analysis. Annales de Physique, 2008, 32 (2-3), pp.195. ⟨10.1051/anphys:2008041⟩. ⟨hal-00179093⟩