Quantum optical weak measurements can visualize photon dynamics in real time
Abstract
An experiment is proposed to visualize stroboscopically in real time the dynamics of a photon oscillating between two cavities. The visualization is implemented by a sequence of weak measurements (POVM), which are carried out by probing one of the cavities with a Rydberg atom and detecting a resulting phase shift by Ramsey interferometry. This way to measure the number of photons in a cavity was experimentally realized by Brune et al.. We suggest a feedback mechanism which minimizes the disturbance due to the measurement and enables a detection of the original evolution of the radiation field. PACS numbers: 03.65.Ta, 32.80.-t, 03.67.-a
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0012060,
title = {Quantum optical weak measurements can visualize photon dynamics in real time},
author = {Jürgen Audretsch and Thomas Konrad and Artur Scherer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0012060},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages revtex, replacement with revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. A. We now take into account the finite lifetime of the cavity and limited efficiencies to detect the energy of the meter atoms