Entanglement and photoelectron holography in dissociative photoionization: molecular quantum eraser
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866910139656699904 |
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| author | Hell, Sebastian Winter, Paul Gärttner, Martin Späthe, Julian Mhatre, Saurabh Milošević, Dejan B. Paulus, Gerhard G. Lein, Manfred Kübel, Matthias |
| author_facet | Hell, Sebastian Winter, Paul Gärttner, Martin Späthe, Julian Mhatre, Saurabh Milošević, Dejan B. Paulus, Gerhard G. Lein, Manfred Kübel, Matthias |
| contents | In a double-slit experiment with a bipartite system, the visibility of interference fringes depends on the availability of which-way information. Here, we report the formation of a Bell-like state of photoelectron and residual ion in the multiphoton dissociative ionization of the D$_2$ molecule. Evidence for entanglement is provided by the correlated emission directions of photoelectron and ion, which is observed using a COLTRIMS reaction microscope. In the presence of this correlation, the holographic interference fringes contained in the photoelectron momentum distributions are suppressed, indicating the existence of which-way information. We show that the which-way information is erased, and the interference pattern is restored, when a single ionic state is selected. The experimental observations and conclusions are fully supported by the numerical solution of the electronic-nuclear time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Our work demonstrates that coincidence spectroscopy of ions and electrons is a powerful method for studying fundamental concepts of quantum information science within the context of ultrafast light-matter interactions. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_16107 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Entanglement and photoelectron holography in dissociative photoionization: molecular quantum eraser Hell, Sebastian Winter, Paul Gärttner, Martin Späthe, Julian Mhatre, Saurabh Milošević, Dejan B. Paulus, Gerhard G. Lein, Manfred Kübel, Matthias Quantum Physics Chemical Physics Optics In a double-slit experiment with a bipartite system, the visibility of interference fringes depends on the availability of which-way information. Here, we report the formation of a Bell-like state of photoelectron and residual ion in the multiphoton dissociative ionization of the D$_2$ molecule. Evidence for entanglement is provided by the correlated emission directions of photoelectron and ion, which is observed using a COLTRIMS reaction microscope. In the presence of this correlation, the holographic interference fringes contained in the photoelectron momentum distributions are suppressed, indicating the existence of which-way information. We show that the which-way information is erased, and the interference pattern is restored, when a single ionic state is selected. The experimental observations and conclusions are fully supported by the numerical solution of the electronic-nuclear time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Our work demonstrates that coincidence spectroscopy of ions and electrons is a powerful method for studying fundamental concepts of quantum information science within the context of ultrafast light-matter interactions. |
| title | Entanglement and photoelectron holography in dissociative photoionization: molecular quantum eraser |
| topic | Quantum Physics Chemical Physics Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.16107 |