Experimental realization of Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment with dual selections

Abstract:Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment demonstrates wave-particle duality of particles using different experimental configurations of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In a quantum version of this experiment, the wave-particle behavior of photons can be observed by controlling presence or absence of the second beam splitter. Here, we implement a delayed-choice experiment with dual selections based on entangled photons, experimentally controlling both of two beam splitters in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, where the presence and absence of the second beam splitter are simultaneously controlled through path encoding. Our experiment reveals the wave-particle behavior of single photons under different configurations of two beam splitters. We further discuss the scenario when two beam splitters are in a quantum superposition of being present and absent, photons will be in a wave-particle quantum superposition state.

arXiv:2610.01832 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2610.01832v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.01832 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 68, 250312 (2025)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-024-2587-y Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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