Quantum carpets: a tool to observe decoherence

Abstract

Abstract Quantum carpets—the spatio-temporal de Broglie density profiles—woven by an atom or an electron in the near-field region of a diffraction grating bring to light, in real time, the decoherence of each individual component of the interference term of the Wigner function characteristic of superposition states. The proposed experiments are feasible with present-day technology.