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Spin directions of interfering beams in quantum interferometry

Abstract

It is shown here that, in a fermion interferometer experiment, the notion of the relative orientation of the interfering beams can be given a sensible meaning—information may be extracted about the spin directions without destroying the interference pattern. This is done on a gedanken-experiment level by introducing into, say, a neutron interferometer Stern–Gerlach magnets with detectors placed into their respective ‘down’-spin beam paths. Similar considerations apply to experiments where spinor behaviour has been demonstrated in systems with higher spin.

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Zeilinger, A. Spin directions of interfering beams in quantum interferometry. Nature 294, 544–546 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294544a0

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