Matter waves and particle beams articles from across Nature Portfolio

Precision measurements with atom interferometers benefit from reducing the expansion rate of the atomic ensemble within the interferometric beam through matter-wave collimation. Here we demonstrate a collimation method based on time-averaged optical potentials and tunable interactions, realizing expansion energies of a few hundred picokelvin.

Quantum sensing exploits properties of quantum systems to go beyond what is possible with traditional measurement techniques, hence opening exciting opportunities in both low-energy and high-energy particle physics experiments.

The Cheshire Cat phenomenon in quantum mechanics refers to a captivating observation where a particle and its properties behave as if they were separated. Here, the authors show the possibility of observing the Cheshire Cat phenomenon via interferometric neutron experiments in agreement with a weak measurement theoretical approach.

Generating high harmonics or attosecond pulses of light is normally thought of as a classical process, but a theoretical study has now shown how the process could be driven by quantum light.

Two studies of electrons generated from laser-triggered emitters have found highly predictable electron–electron energy correlations. These studies, at vastly different energy scales, may lead to heralded electron sources, enabling quantum free-electron optics and low-noise, low-damage electron beam lithography and microscopy.

It’s a long-standing theoretical prediction that mutual information in locally interacting, many-body quantum systems follows an area law. Using cold-atom quantum-field simulators on an atom chip to measure the scaling of von Neumann entropy and mutual information, that prediction is now proved true.

Reconstructing the motional quantum states of massive particles has important implications for quantum information science. Motional tomography of a single atom in an optical tweezer has now been demonstrated.