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From Single to Multiple-Photon Decoherence in an Atom Interferometer

David A. Kokorowski, Alex D. Cronin, Tony D. Roberts, David E. Pritchard

quant-pharXiv:quant-ph/0009044

Abstract

We measure the decoherence of a spatially separated atomic superposition due to spontaneous photon scattering. We observe a qualitative change in decoherence versus separation as the number of scattered photons increases, and verify quantitatively the decoherence rate constant in the many-photon limit. Our results illustrate an evolution of decoherence consistent with general models developed for a broad class of decoherence phenomenon.

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