2,021 research outputs found
Conditional quantum dynamics with several observers
We consider several observers who monitor different parts of the environment
of a single quantum system and use their data to deduce its state. We derive a
set of conditional stochastic master equations that describe the evolution of
the density matrices each observer ascribes to the system under the Markov
approximation, and show that this problem can be reduced to the case of a
single "super-observer", who has access to all the acquired data. The key
problem - consistency of the sets of data acquired by different observers - is
then reduced to the probability that a given combination of data sets will be
ever detected by the "super-observer". The resulting conditional master
equations are applied to several physical examples: homodyne detection of
phonons in quantum Brownian motion, photo-detection and homodyne detection of
resonance fluorescence from a two-level atom. We introduce {\it relative
purity} to quantify the correlations between the information about the system
gathered by different observers from their measurements of the environment. We
find that observers gain the most information about the state of the system and
they agree the most about it when they measure the environment observables with
eigenstates most closely correlated with the optimally predictable {\it pointer
basis} of the system.Comment: Updated version: new title and contents. 22 pages, 8 figure
Unconditional Pointer States from Conditional Master Equations
When part of the environment responsible for decoherence is used to extract
information about the decohering system, the preferred {\it pointer states}
remain unchanged. This conclusion -- reached for a specific class of models --
is investigated in a general setting of conditional master equations using
suitable generalizations of predictability sieve. We also find indications that
the einselected states are easiest to infer from the measurements carried out
on the environment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 .eps figures; final version to appear in Phys.Rev.Let
Observational Signatures of Quantum Gravity in Interferometers
We consider the uncertainty in the arm length of an interferometer due to
metric fluctuations from the quantum nature of gravity, proposing a concrete
microscopic model of energy fluctuations in holographic degrees of freedom on
the surface bounding a causally connected region of spacetime. In our model,
fluctuations longitudinal to the beam direction accumulate in the infrared and
feature strong long distance correlation in the transverse direction. This
leads to a signal that could be observed in a gravitational wave
interferometer. We connect the positional uncertainty principle arising from
our calculations to the 't Hooft gravitational S-matrix.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Decoherence from a Chaotic Environment: An Upside Down "Oscillator" as a Model
Chaotic evolutions exhibit exponential sensitivity to initial conditions.
This suggests that even very small perturbations resulting from weak coupling
of a quantum chaotic environment to the position of a system whose state is a
non-local superposition will lead to rapid decoherence. However, it is also
known that quantum counterparts of classically chaotic systems lose exponential
sensitivity to initial conditions, so this expectation of enhanced decoherence
is by no means obvious. We analyze decoherence due to a "toy" quantum
environment that is analytically solvable, yet displays the crucial phenomenon
of exponential sensitivity to perturbations. We show that such an environment,
with a single degree of freedom, can be far more effective at destroying
quantum coherence than a heat bath with infinitely many degrees of freedom.
This also means that the standard "quantum Brownian motion" model for a
decohering environment may not be as universally applicable as it once was
conjectured to be.Comment: RevTeX, 29 pages, 5 EPS figures. Substantially rewritten analysis,
improved figures, additional references, and errors fixed. Final version (to
appear in PRA
Highly sensitive multichannel spectrometer for subpicosecond spectroscopy in the midinfrared
A spectrometer system is presented for time-resolved probing in the midinfrared between 5 and 11 /tLmw ith a
temporal resolution of better than 400 fs. Multichannel detection with HgCdTe detector arrays consisting of
ten elements in combination with a high repetition rate permits one to record weak absorbance changes with an
accuracy of 0.1 mOD
What is "system": some decoherence-theory arguments
We discuss the possibility of making the {\it initial} definitions of
mutually different (possibly interacting, or even entangled) systems in the
context of decoherence theory. We point out relativity of the concept of
elementary physical system as well as point out complementarity of the
different possible divisions of a composite system into "subsystems", thus
eventually sharpening the issue of 'what is system'.Comment: 9 pages, no figure
Quantum Chaotic Environments, The Butterfly Effect, And Decoherence
We investigate the sensitivity of quantum systems that are chaotic in a
classical limit, to small perturbations of their equations of motion. This
sensitivity, originally studied in the context of defining quantum chaos, is
relevant to decoherence in situations when the environment has a chaotic
classical counterpart.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
- …