Spatial electron-photon entanglement

Free electron beams and their quantum coupling with photons are attracting a rising interest due to the basic questions they address and the innovative technology these particles are involved in, such as microscopy, spectroscopy, and quantum computation. This work proposes spatially encoded coupling...

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Main Authors: Eitan Kazakevich, Hadar Aharon, Ofer Kfir
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2024-10-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043033
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author Eitan Kazakevich
Hadar Aharon
Ofer Kfir
author_facet Eitan Kazakevich
Hadar Aharon
Ofer Kfir
author_sort Eitan Kazakevich
collection DOAJ
description Free electron beams and their quantum coupling with photons are attracting a rising interest due to the basic questions they address and the innovative technology these particles are involved in, such as microscopy, spectroscopy, and quantum computation. This work proposes spatially encoded coupling, where a dual-rail-like electron (e^{−}) state is entangled to a dual-rail photonic qubit. Thus, it complements the leading current concept of the coupling, which links photonic Fock states with the e^{−} energy. Importantly, we show that a spatial electron-photon pair can reach maximal entanglement and propose mutually unbiased bases for verifying the entanglement in a realistic experimental apparatus. Although the energy-level coupling of an e^{−} beam with photonic excitations is well understood, we show that a naïve approach for extending such interaction from a single to a double path results in a retrocausal paradox. In the future, the atomic scale precision of electron microscopes can harness such position-encoded free-e^{−} entangled qubits for novel quantum sensing and quantum transduction.
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spelling doaj-art-13fb2540c5d143a3923e4a2be7e83adf2025-08-20T01:47:34ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642024-10-016404303310.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043033Spatial electron-photon entanglementEitan KazakevichHadar AharonOfer KfirFree electron beams and their quantum coupling with photons are attracting a rising interest due to the basic questions they address and the innovative technology these particles are involved in, such as microscopy, spectroscopy, and quantum computation. This work proposes spatially encoded coupling, where a dual-rail-like electron (e^{−}) state is entangled to a dual-rail photonic qubit. Thus, it complements the leading current concept of the coupling, which links photonic Fock states with the e^{−} energy. Importantly, we show that a spatial electron-photon pair can reach maximal entanglement and propose mutually unbiased bases for verifying the entanglement in a realistic experimental apparatus. Although the energy-level coupling of an e^{−} beam with photonic excitations is well understood, we show that a naïve approach for extending such interaction from a single to a double path results in a retrocausal paradox. In the future, the atomic scale precision of electron microscopes can harness such position-encoded free-e^{−} entangled qubits for novel quantum sensing and quantum transduction.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043033
spellingShingle Eitan Kazakevich
Hadar Aharon
Ofer Kfir
Spatial electron-photon entanglement
Physical Review Research
title Spatial electron-photon entanglement
title_full Spatial electron-photon entanglement
title_fullStr Spatial electron-photon entanglement
title_full_unstemmed Spatial electron-photon entanglement
title_short Spatial electron-photon entanglement
title_sort spatial electron photon entanglement
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.043033
work_keys_str_mv AT eitankazakevich spatialelectronphotonentanglement
AT hadaraharon spatialelectronphotonentanglement
AT oferkfir spatialelectronphotonentanglement