Abstract
We examine the evolution of a two-level atom when its population is monitored. The detection proposed is an interaction-free measurement, so that the observation occurs without photon exchange between the atom and the apparatus. It is shown that the observed dynamics exhibits features that an isolated two-level atom cannot accommodate. Such phenomena are explained in terms of an atom-apparatus effective interaction.
- Received 6 October 1998
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.60.56
©1999 American Physical Society