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arXiv · 2201.03159

A General Analysis for Observing Quantum Interference at Colliders

Andrew J. Larkoski
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Abstract

Despite their inextricable quantum mechanical nature, events at a high energy particle collider experiment typically have very few unambiguous quantum signatures, due the type of data and the manner in which they are collected. We present a general analysis of one feature of quantum mechanics, interference between two orthogonal states on Hilbert space, projected onto the basis of states that span a collider experiment observable space. Identification of quantum interference can be considered as a binary discrimination between a pure state and a mixed state, and we introduce several statistical measures that quantify the amplitude of interference in a pure state with respect to a mixed state that exhibits no interference. Two explicit examples from particle physics are provided to demonstrate features of the general formalism.

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Andrew J. Larkoski. 2022-01-10. A General Analysis for Observing Quantum Interference at Colliders. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.105.096012

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