Breakthrough in Quantum Physics: Mapping Photon Trajectories with Weak Measurements

1. Weak Measurements and the Photon Trajectory Significance: The experiment manages to obtain data which has long been thought impossible. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states an observer cannot know the position and momentum of a particle accurately without disrupting the entire system. With the new technique, researchers were able to bypass this paradox and map the complete trajectory of photons passing through a double-slit. and possibly open the door to even greater feats in quantum physics. Method: Researchers sent a group of single photons through the two-slit interferometer and weakly measured each photon so to imprecisely measure the momentum of each photon. The photons direction would be measured as a function of position followed by an extremely accurate measurement of its position using a camera. An international team led by Aephraim Steinberg were able to map complete trajectories of single photons using a Young double-slit experiment. Using a technique called “weak measurement,” the team was able to accurately measure both the position and momentum of a single photon without distorting the interference pattern created by the double-slit.