Separating the wave and particle attributes of two entangled photons

Abstract

Wave-particle duality is one of the most intriguing counterfactual concepts in quantum theory. In our common sense, the wave and particle properties of a quantum object are inseparable. However, the recent studies based on Quantum Cheshire Cat phenomena showed that separating the physical properties of a quantum object including wave and particle attributes from itself are possible in microscopic system described by two-state vector formalism. In this study, we put forward a feasible scheme to spatially separate the wave and particle attributes of two entangled photons by properly choosing the pre- and post-selection of path states. Our scheme also guarantees that the observation of wave and particle properties of the two entangled photons always obey the Bohr's complementarity principle.