Quantum Walk with Single Caesium Atoms (2 of 2) (IMAGE)
Caption
(a) A single caesium atom is trapped at a site of a grid of light. The atom has two states, red and blue. Here it is put in a coherent superposition of these states which is coherent quantum mechanically, i.e. in a superposition of red and blue. (b) The light grid is dependent on the state of the atom. It can be visualised as a red and a blue grid where the red state of the atom only sees the red grid and the blue state of the atom only sees the blue grid. If both these grids are moved in different directions, the red part of the atom moves to the left, the blue part moves to the right. (c) If both subgrids overlap again, the atom is spread over two grid sites, i.e. it is simultaneously located at the right and left. (d) After each part of the atom has again been brought into a superposition of both states and the state-dependent shift has been carried out, the atom is delocalised over three grid sites, where two parts of the atom are now situated in the same grid site. At this grid site, both parts can mutually enhance or annihilate themselves, i.e. interference occurs.
Credit
IAP, University of Bonn
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