The essence of this program is to investigate intertemporal effects in quantum measurements utilizing an optoelectronic experimental setup. The goal of the project is to realize an idea identified as a "backward time telegram" based on the experimental setup of the "delayed choice quantum eraser".
A telegram code, or a string of bits, consisting of "0"s and "1"s shall be used for active control of an optical switch to make the "delayed choice" of "which-path" or "both-paths". The particle-like or wave-like behavior of a light quantum, which corresponding to code "0" or code "1" respectively, will be registered in a much early time even before the generation of the code. The code may be considered as a message, a string of bits to be transmitted. The working principle of this "Backward Time Telegram" could then be demonstrated.
The project will extend a previous experiment by the PI, entitled "Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser," reported in Physical Review Letters, Vol. 84, No. 1, 2000. This new extension will clarify the alternative possible explanations of the prior results, and thereby take a significant step towards a deeper understanding of the role of intertemporal effects in the process of measurement in quantum field theory.
Recent work in quantum information sciences (QIS) has demonstrated the great importance of the measurement process, particularly in regards to the interface between macroscopic and microscopic phenomena. A better understanding of that interface may be very important, in the long-term, to a better understanding of the design space available to the emerging field of QIS and quantum computing.
