The spatial coherence of an atomic wavepacket can be detected in the scattered photons, even when the center-of-mass motion is in the quantum coherent superposition of two distant, non-overlapping wave packets. Spatial coherence manifests itself in the power spectrum of the emitted photons, whose spectral components can exhibit interference fringes as a function of the emission angle. The contrast and the phase of this interference pattern provide information about the quantum state of the center of mass of the scattering atom.
Categories: quant-ph cond-mat.other