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arXiv:1707.09640 · Journal of Physics Communications

Negation of photon loss provided by negative weak value

Kazuhiro Yokota, Nobuyuki Imoto

Published Jun 14, 2018• 2 citations
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Abstract

We propose a usage of a weak value for a quantum processing between preselection and postselection. While the weak value of a projector of 1 provides a process with certainty like the probability of 1, the weak value of −1 negates the process completely. Their mutually opposite effect is approved without a conventional 'weak' condition. In addition the quantum process is not limited to be unitary; in particular we consider a loss of photons and experimentally demonstrate the negation of the photon loss by using the negative weak value of −1 against the positive weak value of 1.

DOI
10.1088/2399-6528/aacccb

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We propose a usage of a weak value for a quantum processing between preselection and postselection. While the weak value of a projector of 1 provides a process with certainty like the probability of 1, the weak value of −1 negates the process completely. Their mutually opposite effect is approved without a conventional 'weak' condition. In addition the quantum process is not limited to be unitary; in particular we consider a loss of photons and experimentally demonstrate the negation of the photon loss by using the negative weak value of −1 against the positive weak value of 1.
We propose a usage of a weak value for a quantum processing between preselection and postselection. While the weak value of a projector of 1 provides a process with certainty like the probability of 1, the weak value of -1 negates the process completely. Their mutually opposite effect is approved without a conventional `weak' condition. In addition the quantum process is not limited to be unitary; in particular we consider the dissipation of photons and experimentally demonstrate the negation of the dissipation by using the negative weak value of -1 against the positive weak value of 1.
When the weak value of a projector is 1, a quantum system behaves as in that eigenstate with probability 1. By definition, however, the weak value may take an anomalous value lying outside the range of probability like −1. From the viewpoint of a physical effect, we show that such a negative weak value of −1 can be regarded as the counterpart of the ordinary value of 1. Using photons, we experimentally verify it as the symmetrical shift in polarization depending on the weak value given by pre-postselection of the path state. Unlike observation of a weak value as an ensemble average via weak measurements, the effect of a weak value is definitely confirmed in Hong–Ou–Mandel effect: the symmetrical shift corresponding to the weak value can be directly observed as the rotation angle of a half wave plate.
It is argued that a weak value of an observable is a robust property of a single pre- and postselected quantum system rather than a statistical property. During an infinitesimal time a system with a given weak value affected other systems as if it had been in an eigenstate with eigenvalue equal to the weak value. This differs significantly from the action of a system preselected only and possessing a numerically equal expectation value. The weak value has a physical meaning beyond a conditional average of a pointer in the weak measurement procedure. The difference between the weak value and the expectation value has been demonstrated on the example of photon polarization. In addition, the weak values for systems pre- and postselected in mixed states are considered.
Weak values, emerging from weak measurements in pre- and postselection, exhibit complex-valued properties, enabling the direct characterization of quantum systems. However, conventional weak values do not account for system evolution, restricting their capability to capture quantum dynamical information. To overcome this limitation, we introduce the process weak value (PWV), which incorporates quantum evolution between observables during pre- and postselection. By establishing a connection between PWVs and the matrix elements of unitary operators, we develop a theoretical framework for the direct characterization of quantum processes. Our experimental validation encompasses single-photon and two-photon unitary processes, as well as non-Hermitian parity-time symmetric quantum processes. Compared to standard quantum process tomography, our method reduces the required bases for state preparation and measurements while circumventing complex reconstruction algorithms, enhancing efficiency and scalability. Our PWV formalism opens avenues for broader foundational investigations of weak measurements and enables efficient applications in characterizing sophisticated quantum processes.
Weak measurement is a novel quantum measurement scheme, which is usually characterized by the weak value formalism. To guarantee the validity of the weak value formalism, the fidelity between the preselection and the postselection should not be too small generally. In this work, we study the weak measurement on a qubit system with exactly or asymptotically orthogonal pre- and postselections. We shall establish a general rigorous framework for the weak measurement beyond the weak value formalism, and obtain the average output of a weak measurement when the pre- and postselections are exactly orthogonal. We shall also study the asymptotic behavior of a weak measurement in the limiting process that the pre- and postselections tend to be orthogonal.