Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
Quantum Mechanics is a dificult and unintuitive theory for undergraduate students to understand, but a lab in which students directly observe quantum phenomena will help students understand the theory. Utilizing a relatively simple setup it is possible to reproduce a large number of foundational single-photon experiments. The lab employs correlated photon pairs to simulate single photons. With this setup students are able to verify first-hand the existence of photons through the Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiment and the wave-like behavior of light through single-photon interference in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. I have also created informative visualizations that aid in the understanding of the counter-intuitive nature of quantum mechanics and the laboratory setup. More experiments could be added to this curriculum with relative ease highlighting other aspects of quantum mechanics.
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