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arXiv:1410.7126

Why the "classical" explanation of weak values by Ferrie and Combes does not work: a comment on Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014)

Holger Friedrich Hofmann, M. Iinuma, Yutaka Shikano

Published Oct 27, 2014• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014) [arXiv:1403.2362], Ferrie and Combes claim that weak values could be a statistical artifact caused by correlations between the disturbance and the post-selection condition imposed on the output. In this comment, we show that the disturbance caused by a weak measurement is sufficiently low to definitely rule out the model proposed by Ferrie and Combes.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1410.7126

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In Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 120404 (2014) [arXiv:1403.2362], Ferrie and Combes claim that weak values could be a statistical artifact caused by correlations between the disturbance and the post-selection condition imposed on the output. In this comment, we show that the disturbance caused by a weak measurement is sufficiently low to definitely rule out the model proposed by Ferrie and Combes.
Weak values are conventionally extracted in the limit of vanishing measurement strength. At finite strength, the corresponding post-selected conditional averages generally acquire nonlinear corrections and need not retain their weak value interpretation. Here we identify a class of measurement protocols for which this expectation fails: the conditional value reconstructed from the measuring probe is exactly independent of the probe strength and therefore coincides with the real part of the weak value. We first analyze this phenomenon in the measurement--disturbance protocol introduced by Lund and Wiseman. We then establish conditions under which this invariance persists, showing that it is determined by the interplay between the probe interaction, a subsequent measurement interaction with an ancillary apparatus, and the final post-selection. These results demonstrate that weak coupling, although generally sufficient for accessing weak values, is not always necessary.