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Abstract

In this work we present a quantum theoretical account of hard x-ray time-domain interferometry, which is an experimental technique to probe the correlations in time between particles in a condensed matter system via their interaction with hard x-radiation. This technique has so far been successfully applied to classical systems. The recent proposal of using the same technique on systems for which quantum effects play a major role requires a detailed analysis due to the dramatic effect that the measurement act can have on the dynamics of a quantum system. In particular, trying to access the correlations in a quantum system via direct measurements would give only incomplete information about them. Treating both the probed matter system and the probing radiation as quantum systems which interact weakly, we show that in time-domain interferometry the radiation does not affect the system in the above sense, such that it can access the particles correlations in time fully. Furthermore, in view of some recent advancements in x-ray control, it is proposed that time-domain interferometry can be used for the reconstruction of particles correlations and for detecting the presence of quantum effects in the probed system.