Has such an experiment actually been carried out?
Experiments like the one presented here, in which an interference pattern builds up from individual “impacts”, have already been realized with various kinds of quantum objects.
The following list gives an overview of the experiments carried out so far.
| 1892 | Discovery of the photoelectric effect (Elster & Geitel) |
| 1921-26 | Experimental demonstration of electron diffraction (Davisson & Germer) |
| 1953 | First electron-beam interferometer with a set-up analogous to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer |
| 1960 | Electron-beam interferometer using artificially produced slits (Jönsson) |
| 1974 | Interference of neutrons at a silicon single crystal (Rauch, Treimer, Bonse) |
| 1991 | Interference of entire helium and sodium atoms (Carnal & Mlynek, Keith et al.) |
| 1999 | Molecule interferometer with C60 and C70 molecules (Arndt & Zeilinger) |