Probing quantum mechanics with nanoparticle matter-wave interferometry
- Author(s)
- Sebastian Pedalino, Bruno E. Ramírez-Galindo, Richard Ferstl, Klaus Hornberger, Markus Arndt, Stefan Gerlich
- Abstract
The quantum superposition principle is a fundamental concept of physics1 and the basis of numerous quantum technologies2,3. Yet, it is still often regarded counterintuitive because we do not observe its key features on the macroscopic scales of our daily lives. It is, therefore, interesting to ask how quantum properties persist or change as we increase the size and complexity of objects4. A model test for this question can be realized by matter-wave interferometry, in which the motion of individual massive particles becomes delocalized and needs to be described by a wave function that spans regions far larger than the particle itself5. Over the years, this has been explored with a series of objects of increasing mass and complexity6, 7, 8–9 and a growing community aims at pushing this to ever larger limits. Here we present an experimental platform that extends matter-wave interference to large metal clusters, a qualitatively new material class for quantum experiments. We specifically demonstrate quantum interference of sodium nanoparticles, which can each contain more than 7,000 atoms at masses greater than 170,000 Da. They propagate in a Schrödinger cat state with a macroscopicity10 of μ = 15.5, surpassing previous experiments5,9,11 by an order of magnitude.
- Organisation(s)
- Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
- External organisation(s)
- Universität Duisburg-Essen
- Journal
- Nature
- Volume
- 649
- Pages
- 866-870
- No. of pages
- 5
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09917-9
- Publication date
- 01-2026
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103025 Quantum mechanics, 103026 Quantum optics
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/c3b3fce9-36d1-4acb-a4c1-5e2bfa0598d3