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A matterless double slit

Nature Photonics volume 4, pages 92–94 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Double slits provide incoming particles with a choice. Those that survive passage through the slits have chosen from two possible paths, which interfere to distribute them in a wave-like manner. Such wave–particle duality1 continues to be challenged2,3,4,5 and investigated in a broad range of disciplines with electrons6, neutrons7, helium atoms8, C60 fullerenes9, Bose–Einstein condensates10 and biological molecules11. All variants have hitherto involved material constituents. We present a matterless double-slit scenario in which photons generated from virtual electron–positron pair annihilation in head-on collisions of a probe laser field with two ultra-intense laser beams form a double-slit interference pattern. Such electromagnetic fields are predicted to induce material-like behaviour in vacuum, supporting elastic scattering between photons12,13. Our double-slit scenario presents, on the one hand, a realizable method with which to observe photon–photon scattering and, on the other hand, demonstrates the possibility of both controlling light with light and non-locally investigating features of the quantum vacuum structure.

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Figure 1: A matterless double-slit set-up.
Figure 2: Light–light diffraction pattern.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge helpful discussions with J. Evers, R. Moshammer and G. Sansone.

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117, Heidelberg, Germany

    Ben King, Antonino Di Piazza & Christoph H. Keitel

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  1. Ben King
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  2. Antonino Di Piazza
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  3. Christoph H. Keitel
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Correspondence to Antonino Di Piazza.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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King, B., Di Piazza, A. & Keitel, C. A matterless double slit. Nature Photon 4, 92–94 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.261

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