Direct and indirect strategies for phase measurement
Quantum Physics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
Recently, Torgerson and Mandel [Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3939 (1996)] have reported a disagreement between two schemes for measuring the phase difference of a pair of optical fields. We analyze these schemes and derive their associated phase-difference probability distributions, including both their strong and weak field limits. Our calculation confirms the main point of Torgerson and Mandel of the non-uniqueness of an operational definition of the phase distribution. We further discuss the role of postselection of data and argue that it cannot meaningfully improve the sensitivity.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9712032,
title = {Direct and indirect strategies for phase measurement},
author = {Marcia T. Fontenelle and Samuel L. Braunstein and Wolfgang P. Schleich and Mark Hillery},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9712032},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
RevTeX + 3 postscript figures, 11 pages, submitted to Physical Review A