Experimental observation of a photon bouncing ball.
An optical analogue of a quantum particle bouncing on a hard surface under the influence of gravity (a quantum bouncer) is experimentally demonstrated using a circularly curved optical waveguide. Spatially resolved tunneling optical microscopy measurements of multiple beam reflections at the waveguide edge clearly show the appearance of wave packet collapses and revivals (either integer and fractional), corresponding to the full quantum regime of the quantum bouncer.
Della Valle
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Dipartimento di Fisica and Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie del CNR, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
Savoini
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Ornigotti
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Laporta
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Foglietti
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Finazzi
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Duò
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Longhi
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