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arXiv:2003.10476 · Physical Review Research

Quantum Zeno effect appears in stages

Kyrylo Snizhko, Parveen Kumar, Alessandro Romito

Published Sep 29, 2020• 58 citations
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Abstract

The work investigates the stochastic dynamics of a qubit under continuous partial measurement, and show that the Zeno regime is reached via a cascade of transitions, each happening at a different measurement strength.
DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.2.033512

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In the quantum Zeno effect, quantum measurements can block the coherent oscillation of a two level system by freezing its state to one of the measurement eigenstates. The effect is conventionally controlled by the measurement frequency. Here we study the development of the Zeno regime as a function of the measurement strength for a continuous partial measurement. We show that the onset of the Zeno regime is marked by a cascade of transitions in the system dynamics as the measurement strength is increased. Some of these transitions are only apparent in the collective behavior of individual quantum trajectories and are invisible to the average dynamics. They include the appearance of a region of dynamically inaccessible states and of singularities in the steady-state probability distribution of states. These predicted dynamical features, which can be readily observed in current experiments, show the coexistence of fundamentally unpredictable quantum jumps with those continuously monitored and reverted in recent experiments.
Quantum mechanics predicts that unobserved systems may exist in a superposition of states, yet measurement produces definite outcomes, a tension at the heart of the quantum-to-classical boundary. How the transformation between these opposing regimes unfolds as observation strength increases has remained experimentally unexplored. Here, by continuously tuning the measurement strength on a superconducting qubit, we reveal that measurement-dominated dynamics emerge not gradually but through three distinct transitions: coherent oscillations abruptly halt; the system then freezes near a stable quantum state; and finally enters the quantum Zeno regime, where stronger observation paradoxically slows relaxation. Decoherence, rather than washing out this structure, reorganizes it, inverting the order in which transitions appear and decoupling signatures that coincide in idealized models. These results establish that the route from quantum dynamics to measurement-dominated behavior unfolds in sharp transitions governed by the interplay between observation and environment.