Arrow of Time for Continuous Quantum Measurement

Justin Dressel, Areeya Chantasri, Andrew N. Jordan, and Alexander N. Korotkov
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 220507 – Published 1 December 2017
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Abstract

We investigate the statistical arrow of time for a quantum system being monitored by a sequence of measurements. For a continuous qubit measurement example, we demonstrate that time-reversed evolution is always physically possible, provided that the measurement record is also negated. Despite this restoration of dynamical reversibility, a statistical arrow of time emerges, and may be quantified by the log-likelihood difference between forward and backward propagation hypotheses. We then show that such reversibility is a universal feature of nonprojective measurements, with forward or backward Janus measurement sequences that are time-reversed inverses of each other.

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  • Received 12 October 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.220507

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Quantum Information, Science & TechnologyGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Justin Dressel1,2, Areeya Chantasri3,4,5, Andrew N. Jordan3,4,1, and Alexander N. Korotkov6

  • 1Institute for Quantum Studies, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, USA
  • 2Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, USA
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  • 4Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  • 5Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Griffith University, Nathan QLD 4111, Australia
  • 6Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 22 — 1 December 2017

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