A research project was conducted at the Heidelberg University, in collaboration with teams at TU Munich and TU Vienna, to smudge the line between a quantum-particle and its mirror image. The research paper has appeared in the journal ‘Nature Physics’.
A photon curls into a direction opposite the one, in which it emits light. It is also possible to determine the movement of the atom provided the photon is measured. The team placed nano-particles close to a mirror. The photon takes either of two paths to be viewed. Either it could have traveled directly towards the viewer, or moved away and seen as a mirror image.
According to Jiri Tomkovic, post doctoral student at Heidelberg, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between the two paths if the nano-particle is kept too close to the mirror. It is not possible to differentiate between the nanoparticle and its image. The atom travels towards and away from the mirror simultaneously. This feature is predominant in quantum physics.
Jörg Schmiedmayer (TU Vienna) says this blurred state does not signify inaccurate measurements. The particle exists in both the states at the same time, in a superposition. Two movements in opposite directions are joined by deploying Bragg diffraction from a laser light screen. It will be observed that the atom has traveled in both directions simultaneously.
Markus Oberthaler at Heidelberg says only when the atom is uncertain can it exist in a superposition state. This state is facilitated by the mirror, which takes forward the photon momentum.
Source: http://www.uni-heidelberg.de