Fringe Visibility and Which-Way Information: An Inequality

Englert, Berthold-Georg

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.2154

Fringe Visibility and Which-Way Information: An Inequality

Berthold-Georg Englert
(
- Hannover, Max Planck Inst. Quantenopt.
)

Sep 9, 1996

3 pages

Published in:

Phys.Rev.Lett. 77 (1996) 2154-2157

DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.2154

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Abstract: (APS)

An inequality is derived according to which the fringe visibility in a two-way interferometer sets an absolute upper bound on the amount of which-way information that is potentially stored in a which-way detector. In some sense, this inequality can be regarded as quantifying the notion of wave-particle duality. The derivation of the inequality does not make use of Heisenberg's uncertainty relation in any form.