Search

The quantum world distinguishes itself from the classical world by being governed by probability amplitudes rather than probabilities. On a single-particle level, quantum phases can be manipulated leading to observable interference patterns that can be used as a probe e.g. in matter wave microscopy. But the quantum world bears even more fascinating effects when it comes to the interplay between more than one particle. Correlations between quantum particles such as entanglement can be exploited to speed up computational algorithms or enable secure cryptography. Here, we propose and numerically explore a thought experiment to address the question whether quantum correlations between particles can be used in matter wave microscopy. Specifically, we address the following questions: can information be transferred between two mutually spin-correlated free-electron wavepackets? Can Coulomb and exchange correlations be linked to the decoherence and dephasing mechanisms of matter waves? Using a time-dependent Hartree–Fock algorithm, we will show that the exchange term has a substantial role in transferring the information between two mutually spin-correlated electrons, whereas the Hartree potential (or mean-field Coulomb potential) dominates the dephasing on a single-particle level. Our findings might facilitate fermionic matter wave interferometry experiments designed to retrieve information about non-classical correlations and the mechanism of decoherence in open quantum systems.

Bichromatic polarization-shaped femtosecond laser pulses are used to control three-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions (3D-EDs) from resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization of potassium atoms. The light fields consisting of two spectral bands with different ellipticity are produced using an ultrafast polarization pulse shaper equipped with a custom polarizer in the Fourier plane. The tomographically reconstructed 3D-EDs from ionization with counterrotating circularly or orthogonal linearly polarized bichromatic laser pulses show different angular momentum superposition states at four distinct photoelectron energies. The analysis of the measured 3D-EDs reveals that the underlying physical mechanism is based on the interplay of ionization pathway selection via quantum mechanical selection rules for optical transitions and intrapulse frequency mixing of the spectral bands with different ellipticity.

We discuss the generation of cascaded extreme ultraviolet four-wave mixing fields with a single-gas-cell configuration and use them to study the dynamics of free electron wave packets of the noble gases. The temporal evolution of atomic dipoles in the vicinity of one-electron excitation Rydberg states 3s3p6np of argon and 4s4p6n′p of krypton is reflected in the intensity profiles of the four-wave mixing spectra. Different interference pathways for these dipole-allowed transitions are revealed in the time-delay-dependent phase shift of the four-wave mixing fields. The results of this study may be promising for studies of more complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]