From the quantum zeno to the inverse quantum zeno effect

The temporal evolution of an unstable quantum mechanical system undergoing repeated measurements is investigated. In general, by changing the time interval between successive measurements, the decay can be accelerated (inverse quantum Zeno effect) or slowed down (quantum Zeno effect), depending on the features of the interaction Hamiltonian. A geometric criterion is proposed for a transition to occur between these two regimes.     

Continuous and pulsed quantum zeno effect

Continuous and pulsed quantum Zeno effects were observed using a 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate. Oscillations between two ground hyperfine states of a magnetically trapped condensate, externally driven at a transition rate omega(R), were suppressed by destructively measuring the population in one of the states with resonant light. The suppression of the transition rate in the two-level system was quantified for pulsed measurements with a time interval deltat between pulses and continuous measurements with a scattering rate gamma. We observe that the continuous measurements exhibit the same suppression in the transition rate as the pulsed measurements when gammadeltat=3.60(0.43), in agreement with the predicted value of 4. Increasing the measurement rate suppressed the transition rate down to 0.005 omega(R).     

Demonstration of quantum zeno effect in a superconducting phase qubit

Quantum Zeno effect is a significant tool in quantum manipulating and computing. We propose its observation in superconducting phase qubit with two experimentally feasible measurement schemes. The conventional measurement method is used to achieve the proposed pulse and continuous readout of the qubit state, which are analyzed by projection assumption and Monte Carlo wavefunction simulation, respectively. Our scheme gives a direct implementation of quantum Zeno effect in a superconducting phase qubit.     

Atomic quantum zeno effect for ensembles and single systems

The so-called quantum Zeno effect is essentially a consequence of the projection postulate for ideal measurements. To test the effect, Itanoet al. have performed an experiment on an ensemble of atoms where rapidly repeated level measurements were realized by means of short laser pulses. Using dynamical considerations, we give an explanation why the projection postulate can be applied in good approximation to such measurements. Corrections to ideal measurements are determined explicitly. This is used to discuss how far the experiment of Itanoet al. can be considered as a test of the quantum Zeno effect. We also analyze a new possible experiment on a single atom where stochastic light and dark periods can be interpreted as manifestation of the quantum Zeno effect. We show that the measurement point of view gives a quick and intuitive understanding of experiments of the above type, although a finer analysis has to take the corrections into account.     

Watching it boil: Continuous observation for the quantum zeno effect

The quantum Zeno effect (QZE) is often associated with the ironic maxim, “a watched pot never boils”, although the notion of “watching” suggests a continuous activity at odds with the usual (pulsed measurement) presentation of the QZE. We show how continuous watching can provide the same halting of decay as the usual QZE, and, for incomplete hindrance, we provide a precise connection between the interval between projections and the response time of the continuous observer. Thus, watching closely, but not so closely as to halt the “boiling”, is equivalent to—gives the same degree of partial hindrance as—pulsed measurements with a particular pulsing rate. Our demonstration is accomplished by treating the apparatus for the continuous watching as a fully quantum object. This in turn allows us a second perspective on the QZE, in which it is the modified level structure of the combined system/apparatus Hamiltonian that slows the decay. This and other considerations favor the characterization “dominated time evolution” for the QZE.     

External cavity coherent quantum cascade laser array

We report on the development of a coherent quantum cascade laser array that consists in the fabrication of multi-stripes array. The main characteristic of this kind of source is that an anti-symmetrical signature with two lobes is obtained in the far field. Taking advantage of this drawback, a grating is aligned with one lobe of the source. Thus a Littrow configuration is designed that permit to obtain a wide tunability of the source. First results are presented and a preliminary test of the source is realized by measurements on acetone.     

Hindered decay of an unstable system: A quantum zeno effect

A direct test of the so-called “quantum Zeno effect” is proposed for a truly decaying system. It is suggested that the lifetime of an unstable atom can be extended by illuminating it with an intense laser beam at the frequency of another of its transitions. The “Zeno” time is also compared to the lifetime     

Teleportation of atomic states with a weak coherent cavity field

A scheme is proposed for the teleportation of an unknown atomic state. The scheme is based on the resonant interaction of atoms with a coherent cavity field. The mean photon-number of the cavity field is much smaller than one and thus the cavity decay can be effectively suppressed. Another advantage of the scheme is that only one cavity is required.     

The coherent time evolution of two coupled quantum dots in a two-mode cavity

For two coupled identical quantum dots in a two-mode cavity, we determine the conditions of two-photon and single-photon resonance. It is shown that the exciton-phonon interaction reduces the Rabi frequencies of each model and the Förster interaction between double quantum dots even at absolute zero temperature. The exciton-phonon interaction also makes a contribution to the static exciton-exciton dipole interaction energy. Furthermore, the additional interactions can modify the conditions of photon resonance significantly. A more realistic case of two nonidentical quantum dots is also considered. The influence of parameter misfits on the quantum system is discussed.Received: 8 July 2004, Published online: 3 November 2004PACS: 73.21.La Quantum dots - 71.35.-y Excitons and related phenomena - 42.50.Pq Cavity quantum electrodynamics; micromasers     

Propagator of an electron in a cavity in the presence of a coherent photonic field

In the present paper we consider the case of an electron under the presence of a single mode field in a cavity linearly polarized in the z-direction. We adopt the dipole approximation and we derive the full propagator of the electron. In the present case we suppose that the field is in a coherent state. The parameters of the propagator involve Mathieu functions. Finally we extract the time evolution of an initially Gaussian wavepacket and its probability density. The present theory is applicable to the interaction of strong fields with atoms. Received 17 March 2000 and Received in final form 19 December 2000     

Enhancement of the Kerr effect for a quantum dot in a cavity

Nonlinear susceptibility of a quantum dot (QD) embedded in a two-sided cavity, is studied theoretically from a weak-coupling to a strong-coupling regime. In the relevance of a quantum logic gate, the corresponding nonlinear phase shifts (Kerr effect) are estimated for coherent wavepackets including one photon on average. In the weak-coupling regime, the phase shift enhances strongly as a function of a coupling constant between the cavity photon and QD, and eventually saturates in the strong-coupling regime. We also show transmission spectra to evaluate the efficiency of the phase shift. Although the efficiency decreases monotonically in the weak-coupling regime, it rises in the strong-coupling regime.     

两模腔场谱间的量子干涉

研究了高Q腔中单个二能级原子与两模二项式光场依赖强度耦合相互作用系统的腔场谱,给出了弱初始场条件下的数值结果,讨论了两模光场之间的量子干涉对腔场谱结构的影响. 发现当两模光场的频率差Δ>g（g为原子与腔场间的耦合常数）时,两模光场间的干涉效应对谱结构没有影响,系统的腔肠谱只是两模腔肠谱的简单叠加;当Δ≤g时两模腔场谱间的干涉比较明显. 在强初始场条件下,量子干涉效应可忽略. 关键词： 腔场谱 量子干涉 两模二项式光场     

Quantum zeno effect in Cooper-pair transport through a double-island Josephson system

Motivated by recent experiments, we analyze transport of Cooper pairs through a double-island Josephson qubit. At low bias in a certain range of gate voltages, coherent superpositions of charge states play a crucial role. Analysis of the evolution of the density matrix allows us to cover a wide range of parameters, including situations with degenerate levels, when dissipation strongly affects the coherent eigenstates. At high noise levels, the so-called Zeno effect can be observed, which slows down the transport. Our analysis explains certain features of the I-V curves, in particular, the visibility and shape of resonant peaks and lines.     

Generation of superpositions of coherent states of a cavity field with a driven atom

We propose a cavity QED technique to generate superpositions of a series of coherent states on a circle through the interaction of the cavity field with only one atom driven by a classical field.     

Generation of entanglement molecules via weak coherent field in cavity QED

This paper presents a method for generating entanglement molecules, which is introduced by Dur (2001 Phys. Rev. A). In this scheme, N ladder-type three-level atoms are sent through a resonant weak coherent cavity field, then the system states are measured. And the system field may collapse onto some possible types of entanglement molecules. Meanwhile it discusses about the interaction time from the experimental point of view, and compare the result with the previous scheme proposed by Huang (2004 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys.).     

A curiosity concerning the role of coherent states in quantum field theory

In the usual Fock quantisation of fields in Minkowski space-time, one has the result that the expectation value of the quantum Hamiltonian in any coherent state equals the energy of the classical field at which the state is peaked. It is shown that this property can be used tocharacterise the usual Fock representation. It is also pointed out that the entire analysis goes through for a substantially more general class of systems including, in particular, Bose fields in arbitrary stationary space-times.     

好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度

考虑原子间偶极相互作用,求出好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度.结果表明,对于理想腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度始终等于1;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一.腔场初态的平均光子数很小,系统保真度在0～1之间作周期性振荡,随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小.对于好腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度呈指数单调衰减;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,系统保真度呈指数振荡衰减,且随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小.     

好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度

考虑原子间偶极相互作用,求出好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度。结果表明,对于理想腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度始终等于1;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,腔场初态的平均光子数很小,系统保真度在0～1之间作周期性振荡,随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小。对于好腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度呈指数单调衰减;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,系统保真度呈指数振荡衰减,且随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小。     

Nonclassical behavior of an intense cavity field revealed by quantum discord

We investigate the quantum-to-classical crossover of a dissipative cavity field by measuring the correlations between two noninteracting atoms coupled to the cavity mode. First, we note that there is a time window in which the mode shows a classical behavior, which depends on the cavity decay rate, the atom-field coupling strength, and the number of atoms. Then, considering the steady state of two atoms inside the cavity, we note that the entanglement between the atoms disappears while the mean number of photons of the cavity field (n) rises. However, the quantum discord reaches an asymptotic nonzero value even in the limit of n→∞, whether n is increased coherently or incoherently. Therefore, the cavity mode always preserves some quantum characteristics in the macroscopic limit, which is revealed by the quantum discord.