The phenomenon of quantum interrogation allows one to optically detect the
presence of an absorbing object, without the measuring light interacting with
it. In an application of the quantum Zeno effect, the object inhibits the
otherwise coherent evolution of the light, such that the probability that an
interrogating photon is absorbed can in principle be arbitrarily small. We have
implemented this technique, demonstrating efficiencies exceeding the 50%
theoretical-maximum of the original ``interaction-free'' measurement proposal.
We have also predicted and experimentally verified a previously unsuspected
dependence on loss; efficiencies of up to 73% were observed and the feasibility
of efficiencies up to 85% was demonstrated.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett;
submitted June 11, 199
