Sonderforschungsbereich 1227: Designte Quantenzustände der Materie News & Veranstaltungen
Guest Talk: Prof. Dr. Ralf Menzel, University of Potsdam

Guest Talk: Prof. Dr. Ralf Menzel, University of Potsdam

Complementarity, Modes and Vacuum Fields in Quantum Optics

Abstract:
Complementarity is one of the most fundamental and important principles of quantum physics. It was
mentioned first by Niels Bohr as a consequence of the uncertainty of certain pairs of quantum physical parameters. But complementarity is also a consequence of the wave-particle-duality. A new set of experiments using spontaneous parametric down conversion allows the detailed investigation of the
complementarity principle in quantum optics. It is shown that complementarity in both aspects is a consequence of the (classical) modes of the photons selected in the measuring process and their properties are determined by the physics of the vacuum fields.