Quantum Decoherence of Single-Photon Counters
Abstract
The interaction of a quantum system with the environment leads to the so-called quantum decoherence. Beyond its fundamental significance, the understanding and the possible control of this dynamics in various scenarios is a key element for mastering quantum information processing. Here we report the quantitative probing of what can be called the quantum decoherence of detectors, a process reminiscent of the decoherence of quantum states in the presence of coupling with a reservoir. We demonstrate how the quantum features of two single-photon counters vanish under the influence of a noisy environment. We thereby experimentally witness the transition between the full-quantum operation of the measurement device to the "semi-classical regime", described by a positive Wigner function. The exact border between these two regimes is explicitely determined and measured experimentally.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1105.4090,
title = {Quantum Decoherence of Single-Photon Counters},
author = {Virginia D'Auria and Noriyuki Lee and Taoufik Amri and Claude Fabre and Julien Laurat},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.4090},
year = {2011}
}