How Students Use Mathematical and Experimental Reasoning to Understand Quantum Experiments

In quantum classes, it is important to discuss real, not contrived experiments. In the upper-division quantum course at Georgetown University, we discuss several quantum experiments and introduce mathematical tools based on quantum optics and techniques such as a simplified Feynman path integral to analyze these experiments and predict their outcomes. We assess students' fluency with this approach by conducting interviews where students answered conceptual questions, calculated probabilities, and provided step-by-step explanations of three experiments: single photons through a beam splitter, the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and the Franson interferometer; the first two taught in instruction, the third not covered. This talk presents our results of the analysis of these student interviews.