Reference no: EM131553527

Question: Consider the Mach-Zehnder interferometer shown in Fig. Assume it has 20-80 beam splitters so that 20% of the light is reflected through each beam splitter while 80% of the light is transmitted.

a. Find

i. The probability amplitude for a photon to be reflected by the beam-splitter.

ii. The probability amplitude for a photon to be transmitted by the beam-splitter.

iii. The probability for a photon to go from A to B through arm 1 if arm 2 is blocked.

b. If the arms of the interferometer have the exact same length and both arms are unblocked:

i. Find the probability of a photon going from A to B if the arms are distinguishable.

ii. Find the probability of a photon going from A to B if the arms are indistinguishable.

c. If the wavelength of the light is 500 nm and the number of photons incident on the interferometer per second is N = 1000, make a graph showing the number of photons detected at B in 1 s as a function of the difference between the lengths of the two arms. Your graph must have:

i. A curve similar to what you would get in the lab.

ii. Scale for the vertical axis.

iii. Scale for the horizontal axis.