Repeated Quantum Non-Demolition Measurements: Convergence and Continuous Time Limit

We analyze general enough models of repeated indirect measurements in which a quantum system interacts repeatedly with randomly chosen probes on which von Neumann direct measurements are performed. We prove, under suitable hypotheses, that the system state probability distribution converges after a large number of repeated indirect measurements, in a way compatible with quantum wave function collapse. We extend this result to mixed states and we prove similar results for the system density matrix. We show that the convergence is exponential with a rate given by some relevant mean relative entropies. We also prove that, under appropriate rescaling of the system and probe interactions, the state probability distribution and the system density matrix are solutions of stochastic differential equations modeling continuous-time quantum measurements. We analyze the large time behavior of these continuous time processes and prove convergence.