Quantum State Reduction and Conditional Time Evolution of Wave-Particle Correlations in Cavity QED

G. T. Foster; L. A. Orozco; H. M. Castro-Beltran; H. J. Carmichael

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3149

Quantum State Reduction and Conditional Time Evolution of Wave-Particle Correlations in Cavity QED

G. T. Foster, L. A. Orozco, H. M. Castro-Beltran, and H. J. Carmichael

Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3149 – Published 9 October 2000

Abstract

We report measurements in cavity QED of a wave-particle correlation function which records the conditional time evolution of the field of a fraction of a photon. Detection of a photon prepares a state of well-defined phase that evolves back to equilibrium via a damped vacuum Rabi oscillation. We record the regression of the field amplitude. The recorded correlation function is nonclassical and provides an efficiency independent path to the spectrum of squeezing. Nonclassicality is observed even when the intensity fluctuations are classical.

Received 20 June 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3149

Authors & Affiliations

G. T. Foster^1,*, L. A. Orozco¹, H. M. Castro-Beltran², and H. J. Carmichael²

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800
²Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1274