How does a Mach-Zehnder interferometer work?

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Abstract

The Mach-Zehnder interferometer is a particularly simple device for demonstrating interference by division of amplitude. A light beam is first split into two parts by a beamsplitter and then recombined by a second beamsplitter. Depending on the relative phase acquired by the beam along the two paths the second beamsplitter will reflect the beam with efficiency between 0 and 100%. The operation of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is often used as an example in quantum mechanics because it shows a clear path-choice problem. However, it is not at all obvious at first glance that it works as claimed, until reflection phase shifts are considered in detail.

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