Conditions for anti-Zeno-effect observation in free-space atomic radiative decay

Emmanuel Lassalle, Caroline Champenois, Brian Stout, Vincent Debierre, and Thomas Durt
Phys. Rev. A 97, 062122 – Published 22 June 2018

Abstract

Frequent measurements can modify the decay of an unstable quantum state with respect to the free dynamics given by Fermi's golden rule. In a landmark article [A. G. Kofman and G. Kurizki, Nature (London) 405, 546 (2000)], Kofman and Kurizki concluded that in quantum decay processes, acceleration of the decay by frequent measurements, called the quantum anti-Zeno effect (AZE), appears to be ubiquitous, while its counterpart, the quantum Zeno effect, is unattainable. However, up to now there have been no experimental observations of the AZE for atomic radiative decay (spontaneous emission) in free space. In this work, making use of analytical results available for hydrogenlike atoms, we find that in free space, only non-electric-dipole transitions should present an observable AZE, revealing that this effect is consequently much less ubiquitous than first predicted. We then propose an experimental scheme for AZE observation, involving the electric quadrupole transition between D5/2 and S1/2 in the alkali-earth ions Ca+ and Sr+. The proposed protocol is based on the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage technique, which acts like a dephasing quasimeasurement.

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  • Received 21 December 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.97.062122

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Physical Systems
General PhysicsQuantum Information, Science & TechnologyAtomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Emmanuel Lassalle1, Caroline Champenois2, Brian Stout1, Vincent Debierre3,*, and Thomas Durt1

  • 1Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel, Marseille, France
  • 2Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, PIIM, Marseille, France
  • 3Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *vincent.debierre@mpi-hd.mpg.de

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Issue

Vol. 97, Iss. 6 — June 2018

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