Separating a particle's mass from its momentum

The Quantum Cheshire Cat experiment showed that when weak measurements are performed on pre- and post-selected system, the counterintuitive result has been obtained that a neutron is measured to be in one place without its spin, and its spin is measured to be in another place without the neutron. A generalization of this effect is presented with a massive particle whose mass is measured to be in one place with no momentum, while the momentum is measured to be in another place without the mass. The new result applies to any massive particle, independent of its spin or charge. A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>n</mml:mi><mml:mi>k</mml:mi><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mi>n</mml:mi></mml:math> experiment which illustrates this effect is presented using a nested pair of Mach-Zehnder interferometers, but with some of the mirrors and beam splitters moving relative to the laboratory frame. The titular interpretation of this experiment is extremely controversial, and rests on several assumptions, which are discussed in detail. An alternative interpretation using the counterparticle model of Aharonov et al. is also discussed.

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Publication Details

Journal
Quantum
Published
2024-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2024-11-26-1536
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.68

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article

Separating a particle&apos;s mass from its momentum

Yakir Aharonov, Mordecai Waegell, Jeff Tollaksen
2 citations
Quantum
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
0.68
article

Separating a particle&apos;s mass from its momentum

Yakir Aharonov, Mordecai Waegell, Jeff Tollaksen
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The Quantum Cheshire Cat experiment showed that when weak measurements are performed on pre- and post-selected system, the counterintuitive result has been obtained that a neutron is measured to be in one place without its spin, and its spin is measured to be in another place without the neutron. A generalization of this effect is presented with a massive particle whose mass is measured to be in one place with no momentum, while the momentum is measured to be in another place without the mass. The new result applies to any massive particle, independent of its spin or charge. A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>g</mml:mi><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mi>a</mml:mi><mml:mi>n</mml:mi><mml:mi>k</mml:mi><mml:mi>e</mml:mi><mml:mi>n</mml:mi></mml:math> experiment which illustrates this effect is presented using a nested pair of Mach-Zehnder interferometers, but with some of the mirrors and beam splitters moving relative to the laboratory frame. The titular interpretation of this experiment is extremely controversial, and rests on several assumptions, which are discussed in detail. An alternative interpretation using the counterparticle model of Aharonov et al. is also discussed.

QuantumVol. 8
Tel Aviv University (IL), Chapman University (US)
John Templeton Foundation
Openalex Percentile: Top 30%
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
0.68
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