Duality of quantum coherence and path distinguishability

Manabendra Nath Bera, Tabish Qureshi, Mohd Asad Siddiqui, and Arun Kumar Pati
Phys. Rev. A 92, 012118 – Published 22 July 2015

Abstract

We derive a generalized wave-particle duality relation for arbitrary multipath quantum interference phenomena. Beyond the conventional notion of the wave nature of a quantum system, i.e., the interference fringe visibility, we introduce a quantifier as the normalized quantum coherence, recently defined in the framework of quantum information theory. To witness the particle nature, we quantify the path distinguishability or the which-path information based on unambiguous quantum state discrimination. Then, the Bohr complementarity principle for multipath quantum interference can be stated as a duality relation between the quantum coherence and the path distinguishability. For two-path interference, the quantum coherence is identical to the interference fringe visibility, and the relation reduces to the well-known complementarity relation. The duality relation continues to hold in the case where mixedness is introduced due to possible decoherence effects.

  • Received 17 March 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.92.012118

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Manabendra Nath Bera1,*, Tabish Qureshi2,†, Mohd Asad Siddiqui2,‡, and Arun Kumar Pati1,§

  • 1Quantum Information and Computation Group, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad-211019, India
  • 2Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-110025, India

  • *manabbera@hri.res.in
  • tabish@ctp-jamia.res.in
  • asad@ctp-jamia.res.in
  • §akpati@hri.res.in

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Vol. 92, Iss. 1 — July 2015

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