Acoustic ghost diffraction

Abstract

An attempt is made to implement acoustic ghost diffraction in the space-momentum domain using ultrasound. The Hanbury Brown—Twiss effect helps ghost diffraction—interference fringes hidden in a large backdrop of first-order fringes to materialize only after making the two emitters mutually incoherent in a post-selective manner, which is leveraged by programmed decoherence. Cross correlation of phononic coherent states is taken in a reciprocal two-slit diffraction geometry so that nontrivial fringes due to virtual one-phonon diffraction—interference fringes emulated by two phonons emerge on the side of the transmitter as opposed to the receiver.