Interference with correlated photons: Five quantum mechanics experiments for undergraduates
Enrique J. Galvez, Charles H. Holbrow, Matthew Pysher, Jean Martin, N. Courtemanche, L. Heilig, J.E. Spencer · American Journal of Physics · 2005
We describe five quantum mechanics experiments that have been designed for an undergraduate setting. The experiments use correlated photons produced by parametric down conversion to generate interference patterns in interferometers. The photons are counted individually. The experimental results illustrate the consequences of multiple paths, indistinguishability, and entanglement. We analyze the results quantitatively using plane-wave probability amplitudes combined according to Feynman’s rules, the state-vector formalism, and amplitude packets. The apparatus fits on a 2′×4′ optical breadboard.