Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1909.09259

How to put quantum particles on magic bullet trajectories that can hit two targets without a clear line-of-sight

Holger F. Hofmann
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Quantum particles move in strange ways, even when they propagate freely in space. As a result of the uncertainty principle, it is not possible to control the initial conditions of particle emission in such a way that the particle will definitely pass through two precisely defined positions along its path, even if it is possible to line up the two positions with the emitter. However, there is also an upside to the quantum mechanical laws of motion: constructive quantum interferences can actually raise probabilities to values higher than those permitted by classical causality. Here, it is shown that conventional interferometric methods can be used to prepare photons in a quantum state in which a non-vanishing fraction of particles will hit both of two possible targets, even though the direct line-of-sight connecting the two targets is blocked at the source. The demonstration of the effect is complicated by the uncertainty principle because the physical detection of a particle at one target disturbs the motion of the particle, making it impossible to determine whether the initial state of motion would have allowed the particle to hit the other target or not. It is nonetheless possible to determine the minimal fraction of "magic bullet" particles that must have hit both targets by showing that the number of particles hitting target A is larger than the number of particles missing target B. Quantum interference effects can thus be used to optimize the path of particles in free space beyond the classical limit of motion along a straight line.

Explore related subjects

quant-phphysics.optics

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Holger F. Hofmann. 2021-02-26. How to put quantum particles on magic bullet trajectories that can hit two targets without a clear line-of-sight. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87025-0

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Designing a Hybrid Digital / Analog Quantum Physics Emulator as Open Hardware

Existing approaches to emulating quantum computing algorithms using classical electronic hardware are limited by exponential scaling limitations in space, such as circuit size, or time, such as runtime or bandwidth. We introduce a scheme for representing quantum information using analog signals that lessens the bandwidth limitation problem (in certain regimes) seen in existing approaches [1, 2] by taking full advantage of the ability of analog signals to encode information using RMS voltage as well as frequency and phase. We introduce the mathematical framework for this representation, which separates the information relevant for measurement in the computational basis from information that is not relevant to it. We introduce circuits that take advantage of this separation of concerns to achieve simplifications, for working with quantum information in this representation. We argue that it is comparatively very inexpensive (as low as ~$5.00 / qubit) to outmatch the computing capabilities of existing FPGA based emulators [3], though scaling beyond tens of qubits is still impractical due to constraints of analog hardware module precision. However, our approach opens the door to a new avenue by which classical emulators can hope to improve: by improving on analog electronic circuit performance.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2026

Measuring a Quantum Measure Exceeding Unity

The history based formalism known as Quantum Measure Theory (QMT) generalizes the concept of probability-measure so as to incorporate quantum interference. The resulting quantum measure $μ$ is defined for arbitrary events (sets of histories), not just for observables at a fixed moment of time. Thanks to interference effects, $μ$ can exceed unity, exhibiting its non-classical nature in a particularly striking manner. Here, in an optical experiment, we illustrate an ancilla based filtering scheme that gives operational meaning to the quantum measure. For a specific photonic event $E$, we report a measured value of $μ(E)=1.172^{+0.013}_{-0.019}$, which within errors agrees with the theoretical value of $5/4$, while exceeding the maximum value permissible for a classical probability (namely $1$) by $13.32$ upper or $8.89$ lower percentile widths. The directly observed quantity is an ordinary detector probability $p_D\le 1$ (or, with laser light, an equivalent power ratio); the value $μ(E)>1$ is inferred via the calibrated relation $μ(E)=2p_D$ for our filter. If an unconventional theoretical concept is to play a role in meeting the foundational challenges of quantum theory, it seems important to bring it into contact with experiment as much as possible. Our experiment does this for the quantum measure.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2026

Complexity Theory for Quantum Promise Problems

We begin by establishing structural results for several fundamental quantum complexity classes: p/mBQP, p/mQ(C)MA, $\text{p/mQSZK}_{\text{hv}}$, p/mQIP, p/mBQP/qpoly, p/mBQP/poly, and p/mPSPACE. This includes identifying complete problems, as well as proving containment and separation results among these classes. Here, p/mC denotes the corresponding quantum promise complexity class with pure (p) or mixed (m) quantum input states for any classical complexity class C. Surprisingly, our findings uncover relationships that diverge from their classical analogues -- specifically, we show unconditionally that p/mQIP$\neq$p/mPSPACE and p/mBQP/qpoly$\neq$p/mBQP/poly. This starkly contrasts the classical setting, where QIP$=$PSPACE and separations such as BQP/qpoly$\neq$BQP/poly are only known relative to oracles. More interestingly, these separation results further connected to the topic of for both quantum property testing and unitary synthesis. This new framework has numerous applications in quantum cryptography, particularly in the contexts of Microcrypt. We provide a better characterization of its primitives; for example, we show that OWSG and PRS can be broken by a p/mQCMA oracle, leading to a natural quantum analogue of Impagliazzo's five worlds by substituting the classical complexity classes in Pessiland, Heuristica, and Algorithmica with mBQP and mQCMA. Moreover, we establish the relativization barrier for proving the existence of EFI, noting that no such barrier currently exists within traditional complexity theory.

quant-ph↗