Physics in Canada / La Physique au Canada - 2010 (66.2)

A triple slit test for Quantum Mechanics

Author(s)
Urbasi Sinha
Christophe Couteau
Fay Dowker
Thomas Jennewein
Gregor Weihs
Raymond Laflamme
Institution
IQC/University of Waterloo
Université de Technologie de Troyes, France
Imperial College, UK
IQC/University of Waterloo
Universität Innsbruck, Austria
IQC/University of Waterloo

As one of the postulates of quantum mechanics, Born’s rule tells us how to get probabilities for experimental outcomes from the complex wave function of the system. Its quadratic nature entails that interference occurs in pairs of paths. We present an experiment that sets out to test the correctness of Born’s rule by testing for the presence or absence of genuine three-path interference. This is done using single photons and a three slit aperture.