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arXiv · 0801.4951

Recoil Free Scattering From a Free Gas

Scott N. Sanders·Florian Mintert·Eric J. Heller
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Abstract

We present a treatment of decoherence in an atom due to scattering from a gas of free particles. We show that there is a recoil free scattering process that leaves both the atom and the gas in an unchanged state, but allows for the acquisition of a phase shift that remains in the free space limit. This is essential to understanding decoherence in a separated arm atom interferometer, where a gas of atoms forms a refractive medium for a matter wave. Our work clarifies the extent to which scattering of a free particle acts as a which-way measurement.

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Scott N. Sanders, Florian Mintert, Eric J. Heller. 2008-01-31. Recoil Free Scattering From a Free Gas. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.79.023610

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