The gedanken double-slit experiment with extended incoherent sources

We analyze the influence of the extension of incoherent sources in one- and two-particle double-slit gedanken interferometry of massive particles. For one-particle systems, in the Gaussian-slit approximation, the intensity of the oscillatory term is diminished by an exponential factor. This analytical form differs from that obtained in optics. For two-particle systems we obtain simultaneously one- and two-particle interferences. We compare our approach with other results previously presented in the literature suggesting a type of complementarity between both types of interference patterns. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.