Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2191–2195 (2001)From Single- to Multiple-Photon Decoherence in an Atom InterferometerReceived 23 August 2000; published in the issue dated 12 March 2001 We measure the decoherence of a spatially separated atomic superposition due to spontaneous photon scattering. We observe a qualitative change in decoherence versus separation as the number of scattered photons increases, and verify quantitatively the decoherence rate constant in the many-photon limit. Our results illustrate an evolution of decoherence consistent with general models developed for a broad class of decoherence phenomena. © 2001 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2191
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2191
PACS:
03.65.Ud, 03.75.Dg, 42.50.Ar
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