Abstract

Wave-particle duality is often used to highlight the difference between quantum mechanics and classical physics. It expresses the fact, that observation of interference and which-way information are mutually exclusive. It has been vividly discussed recently [1], whether the loss of interference in a which-way experiment can always be attributed to mechanical forces. We have performed an experiment, which addresses precisely this question [2]. Our atom interferometer is based on Bragg scattering from standing light waves: A first standing light wave splits the incoming beam of laser cooled Rubidium atoms into two beams of equal intensity. After free propagation, a second standing light wave recombines the beams. A spatial interference pattern is produced in the far field.

© 1998 IEEE