Generation of superpositions of coherent states on a circle

We propose a simple method to obtain a superposition of coherent states on a circle, including Schr?dinger cat states as a special case, via conditional measurement of the state of three level atoms interacting with a one mode cavity field. In the low amplitude limit, very good approximation of Fock states can also be generated in this way. Received: 8 October 1998 / Accepted: 30 October 1998     

Quantum theory of rotation angles: The problem of angle sum and angle difference

We reconsider the problem of the sum and difference of two angle variables in quantum mechanics. The spectra of the sum and difference operators have widths of , but angles differing by are indistinguishable. This means that the angle sum and difference probability distributions must be cast into a range. We obtain probability distributions for the angle sum and difference and relate this problem to the representation of nonbijective canonical transformations. Received: 6 December 1997 / Revised: 15 April 1998 / Accepted: 7 May 1998     

Steady-state populations of a driven three-level atom in a broad-band squeezed vacuum

A theoretical study is made of the steady-state populations of a three-level atom in a ladder configuration, driven by a superposition of a monochromatic laser wave with a broad-band squeezed vacuum. The master equation for the system and the atomic Bloch equations are derived. The steady-state populations are calculated numerically and shown graphically as functions of two-photon detuning for various cases of the squeezed vacuum. It is shown that, the atomic populations depend strongly on the relative phase of the driving field and the squeezed vacuum. When the phase matching condition is fulfilled, there will be a strong two-photon resonant absorption from the squeezed vacuum, a characteristic different from absorption of photons from a classical field. Received: 28 May 1997 / Revised and Accepted: 10 December 1997     

Preparation of Fock states and quantum entanglement via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage using a four-level atom

We study the behaviour of an atom-cavity system exposed to a stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) process in a four-level system, with a coupling scheme which generate two degenerate dark states. We find that the non-adiabatic interaction of the two dark states guarantees that the cavity Fock states can always be generated by both intuitively and counterintuitively ordered pulses. Furthermore, we propose a method to entangle two atoms. Depending on the ordering of the pulses two orthogonal entangled states can be prepared. Since these entangled states do not have component of the excited states included, the technique is robust against the detrimental consequences of spontaneous emission. Received 20 March 2001     

Eigenstates of boson creation operator

We examine the existence of right-hand eigenstates (or eigenkets) of the boson creation operator a and determine their coordinate and their Bargmann representation. The eigenkets of the creation operator are ultrasingular and cannot be considered as a limiting case of normalizable states. Applications of these eigenstates as auxiliary states for purposes of representation of states by path integrals over coherent states are discussed. A completeness relation for coherent states on paths through the complex plane is derived and special examples of its application are considered. Received 9 March 2001 and Received in final form 13 June 2001     

Quantum backaction of optical observations on Bose-Einstein condensates

Impressive pictures of moving Bose-Einstein condensates have been taken using phase-contrast imaging [M.R. Andrews et al., Science 273, 84 (1996)]. We calculate the quantum backaction of this measurement technique, assuming the absence of residual absorption. We find that the condensate gets gradually depleted at a universal rate that is proportional to the light intensity and to the inverse cube of the optical wave length. The fewer atoms are condensed the higher is the required intensity to see a picture, and, consequently, the higher is the induced backaction. To describe the quantum physics of phase-contrast imaging we put forward a new approach to quantum-optical propagation. We develop an effective field theory of paraxial optics in a fully quantized atomic medium. Received 25 February 1999     

Environment-induced nonclassical behaviour

We analyze the transient nonclassical behaviour of a single-mode field whose interaction with an environment is governed by the quantum optical master equation. Our analytic method makes use of the generalized characteristic function of the field state. First, we find a time at which all squeezing effects disappear by decoherence regardless of the initial state of the mode. In the case of an input even coherent state, an unusual modification of higher-order squeezing at low values of thermal mean occupancy transferred to the field is found and discussed. For the same initial state, we also perform a comprehensive analysis of the mixing process during the interaction with the reservoir. We prove that a maximum in the evolution of the 2-entropy of the attenuated mode exists on condition that its initial mean photon number exceeds the mean occupancy of the reservoir. This transient mixing enhancement can be considered as a quantum effect of the initial state on the mode damping. Received 22 April 1999 and Received in final form 2 November 1999     

Nonclassical properties and algebraic characteristics of negative binomial states in quantized radiation fields

We study the nonclassical properties and algebraic characteristics of the negative binomial states introduced by Barnett recently. The ladder operator formalism and displacement operator formalism of the negative binomial states are found and the algebra involved turns out to be the SU(1,1) Lie algebra via the generalized Holstein-Primarkoff realization. These states are essentially Perelomov's SU(1,1) coherent states. We reveal their connection with the geometric states and find that they are excited geometric states. As intermediate states, they interpolate between the number states and geometric states. We also point out that they can be recognized as the nonlinear coherent states. Their nonclassical properties, such as sub-Poissonian distribution and squeezing effect are discussed. The quasiprobability distributions in phase space, namely the Q and Wigner functions, are studied in detail. We also propose two methods of generation of the negative binomial states. d 32.80.Pj Optical cooling of atoms; trapping Received 8 May 1999 and Received in final form 8 November 1999     

Quantum state transfer from light beams to atomic ensembles

We show the equivalence between an ensemble of two-level atoms driven by a squeezed vacuum field, and a harmonic oscillator coupled to a squeezed field. We give the conditions for optimal squeezing transfer from the field to the atomic ensemble. We show that EPR-type correlations are created between the atomic ensemble and the incoming field. Received 23 January 2001     

Statistical properties of the output of linear amplifier with superpositions of squeezed displaced Fock states as an input state

The s-parameterized characteristic function for the output field with the superposition of squeezed displaced Fock states (SDFS's) as input field is given. The s-ordered distribution functions for the output field with superposition of SDFS's as input state are investigated. Various moments are calculated by using the s-ordered characteristic function for that field. The Glauber second-order coherence function is calculated. The quadrature squeezing for the output field are discussed. Some Quasiprobability distribution functions of the output fields are plotted as functions of the interaction time. The quadrature squeezing for the output field are discussed. Received 30 September 1998     

Quantum imaging,quantum lithography and the uncertainty principle

One of the most surprising consequences of quantum mechanics is the entanglement of two or more distant particles. Even though we still have questions in regard to fundamental issues of the entangled quantum systems, quantum entanglement has started to play important roles in practical applications. Quantum imaging is one of the hot topics. Quantum imaging has many interesting features which are useful for different applications. For example, quantum imaging can be nonlocal, which is useful for secure two-dimensional information transfer. Quantum imaging can reach a much higher spatial resolution comparing with classical imaging, even beyond the diffraction limit, which is useful for lithography and other microsystem fabrication technology. It is not a violation of the uncertainty principle, however, a quantum mechanical multi-particle phenomenon. Received 30 August 2002 / Received in final form 11 November 2002 Published online 4 February 2003     

Statistical properties of a solvable three-boson squeeze operator model

In the present paper we introduce a new squeeze operator, which is related to the time-dependent evolution operator for Hamiltonian representing mutual interaction between three different modes. Squeezing phenomenon as well as the variances of the photon-number sum and difference are considered. Moreover, Glauber second-order correlation function is discussed, besides the quasiprobability distribution function and phase distribution for different states. The joint photon-number distribution is also reported. Received 29 March 2000 and Received in final form 20 September 2000     

Direct experimental test of non-separability and other quantum techniques using continuous variables of light

We present schemes for the generation and evaluation of continuous variable entanglement of bright optical beams and give a brief overview of a variety of optical techniques and quantum communication applications on this basis. A new entanglement-based quantum interferometry scheme with bright beams is suggested. The performance of the presented schemes is independent of the relative interference phase which is advantageous for quantum communication applications. Received 1st August 2001     

Continuous variables quantum switch teleportation using two-mode squeezed light

We propose a novel quantum switch teleportation with a continuous variable, which can teleport a quantum state to two different receivers alternatively, using a pair of two-mode squeezed lights as the quantum switching to manipulate the transmission route. In this scheme, the EPR entangled beams shared by sender and receivers are produced by mixing a pair of two-mode squeezed lights on one beamsplitter and separating them by using a polarizing beam splitter. The teleportation capability of this system is examined by the criteria proposed by Ralph and Lam [#!ralph!#] from a small signal quantum optical point of view. Received 20 May 2002 / Received in final form 29 July 2002 Published online 24 September 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhangyun@crl.go.jp     

On the observation of decoherence with a movable mirror

Following almost a century of debate on possible “independent of measurement" elements of reality, or “induced" elements of reality - originally invoked as an ad-hoc collapse postulate, we propose a novel line of interference experiments which may be able to examine the regime of induced elements of reality. At the basis of the proposed experiment, lies the hypothesis that models of “induced" elements of reality should exhibit symmetry breaking within quantum evolution. The described symmetry experiment is thus aimed at being able to detect and resolve spatial symmetry breaking signatures. The proposed experiment stands at the edge of present day technological abilities and will be, so we believe, realizable in the near future. Received 2 December 1999 and Received in final form 6 April 2000     

Evolution of cat states in a dissipative parametric amplifier: decoherence and entanglement

The evolution of the Schr?dinger-cat states in a dissipative parametric amplifier is examined. The main tool in the analysis is the normally ordered characteristic function. Squeezing, photon-number distribution and reduced factorial moments are discussed for the single- and compound-mode cases. Also the single-mode Wigner function is demonstrated. In addition to the decoherence resulting from the interaction with the environment (damped case) there are two sources which can cause such decoherence in the system even if it is completely isolated: these are the decay of the pump and the relative phases of the initial cat states. Furthermore, for the damped case there are two regimes, which are underdamped and overdamped. In the first (second) regime the signal mode or the idler mode “collapses" to a statistical mixture (thermal field). Received 25 September 2001 / Received in final form 30 May 2002 Published online 13 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: sebaweh@awalnet.net.sa RID="b" ID="b"Joint Laboratory of Optics of Palacky University and Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 17. listopadu 50, 772 07 Olomouc, Czech Republic.     

A single atom-based generation of Bell states of two cavities

A new conditional scheme for generating Bell states of two spatially separated high-Q cavities is reported. Our method is based on the passage of one atom only through the two cavities. A distinctive feature of our treatment is that it incorporates from the very beginning the unavoidable presence of fluctuations in the atom-cavity interaction times. The possibility of successfully implementing our proposal against cavity losses and atomic spontaneous decay is carefully discussed. Received 31 July 2001 and Received in final form 9 October 2001     

Optical mode characterization of single photons prepared by means of conditional measurements on a biphoton state

A detailed theoretical analysis of the spatiotemporal mode of a single photon prepared via conditional measurements on a photon pair generated in the process of parametric down-conversion is presented. The maximum efficiency of coupling the photon into a transform-limited classical optical mode is calculated and ways for its optimization are determined. An experimentally feasible technique of generating the optimally matching classical mode is proposed. The theory is applied to a recent experiment on pulsed homodyne tomography of the single-photon Fock state [A.I. Lvovsky et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 050402 (2001)]. Received 16 July 2001