Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Squeezed Quantum Fluctuations in Free-Motion and Harmonic Oscillation

K. Wódkiewicz

Published Jun 18, 1984• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

With a proper choice of the initial wave function it is possible to obtain reduced or squeezed quantum fluctuations of the un- certainty of the position operator for a free particle.1 Such an effect is important for the so-called quantum nondemolition measurements of weak external signals. We show that for both free-motion and harmonic oscillation such a property holds owing to the conformal invariance of the Schrodinger equation. We show that for harmonic oscillation it is possible to reduce the quantum fluctuations of the measured photon below the standard quantum limit.2 Possible applications to optical communications and weak signal detections are also presented

Related papers

On the Quantum Mechanics of Squeezed States

K. Wódkiewicz

We show that the squeezed states of quantum optics are physically and mathematically equivalent to Gaussian wave packets. In the framework of wave mechanics it is possible to formulate and investigate in a very simple way all the properties of reduced or squeezed fluctuations of the position and momentum operators. We study squeezed quantum fluctuations of a minimum-uncertainty Gaussian wave function under two different dynamical conditions of free evolution and harmonic oscillation.

Journal of Modern Optics•Jun 1, 1987•37 citations

Squeezing the Quantum Noise Limits

Barbara Goss Levi

While it is true that quantum mechanics imposes strict limits on the precision of measurements, we can sometimes improve measurement precision without violating the uncertainty principle. The rub is that this improvement may be formidable to achieve in practice—and always comes at the expense of a loss in the precision of a complementary measurement. Last October a team at AT&T Bell Labs succeeded in reducing the noise observed from an optical cavity below the “shot noise”—the level of fluctuations associated with variations in the vacuum fields, which is the ultimate limit to accuracy that would be predicted by semiclassical models. Although the Bell Labs experiment reduced the noise below this level by only 7 to 10%, it bolstered hopes that continued progress might eventually yield reductions in noise by factors of ten. Manipulation of the quantum noise limitations might be absolutely critical to such precision measurements as detection of gravity waves, whose faint signals are likely to be near the measurement limit of laser interferometers or mechanical oscillators. The phenomenon might possibly find applications in optical communication or optical memory systems.

Physics Today•Mar 1, 1986•2 citations

Phase noise in quantum physics

Barry C. Sanders

The nature of phase noise in quantum optics is analyzed. In an experiment involving the measurement of the electromagnetic field the two quantities of interest are the energy and phase of the field. However, measurements of the quantities produce quantum fluctuations. The quantum fluctuations are regarded as noise in the treatment presented here. The quantum system is represented by a probability distribution, the Wigner function, and the quantum fluctuations are treated as stochastic noise associated with the quantity being measured. The difficulties of associating a quantum operator with the phase of the system are reviewed and the related energy-phase uncertainty relation is discussed. The alternate interpretation of the phase noise of a quantum system as being the classical phase noise of the Wigner function is presented. In particular the energy and phase noise of the vacuum state, the coherent state, the squeezed state and the squeezed vacuum are discussed in this way. The squeezed states of light are minimum uncertainty states with respect to the quadrature operators and exhibit noise of one quadrature below the noise level associated with the vacuum. The reduced noise level in one quadrature of the field underlies the importance of squeezed states in many practical applications where there is a need to reduce the quantum noise of one quadrature of coherent light. The periodic phase operator eliminates the difficulties associated with the multivalued nature of phase. The analysis of the vacuum and intense coherent state of Carruthers and Nieto by employing periodic phase operators is reviewed, particularly with respect to the energy-phase uncertainty relations and we generalize the approach to develop a phase operator analysis of the squeezed state in the intense field and vacuum limits. We demonstrate here for the first time that the phase operator is simply related to the phase of the squeezed state in the intense field limit and that the squeezed state is approximately an energy-phase minimum uncertainty state in the low-squeezing limit. Also we enlarge on previous work to demonstrate that the phase operator corresponds simply and unambiguously to the phase of the squeeze parameter for the strongly squeezed vacuum and the intensely squeezed vacuum is an energy-phase minimum uncertainty state for some values of phase. The occurrence of squeezing for the case of two coupled quantum oscillators is presented. The system consisting of one mode of the electromagnetic field coupled to a spinless nonrelativistic electron subjected to an harmonic potential is represented by two coupled harmonic oscillators. The dynamics are compared for the case that the rotating wave approximation is employed and for the case that the counter-rotating terms are included. These calculations have not been performed before. The parametric amplifier Hamiltonian with a nonresonant coupling is also studied in order to provide insight into the effects of the counter-rotating terms. Squeezing of the field produced by the electron is a consequence of the inclusion of the counter-rotating terms. The case of a spinless nonrelativistic electron subject to an harmonic potential and coupled to a continuum of electromagnetic field modes is also considered. The case of two coupled oscillators discussed above is generalized by replacing the oscillator which represents the single-mode field by a bath of oscillators. The effects of including counter-rotating terms and of ignoring the counter - rotating terms in the Hamiltonian are compared. The interaction is assumed to produce a frequency shift and an exponential damping term for the oscillating electron. The frequency shift is assumed to be small in either case and so the Wigner-Weisskopff approximation is employed to solve the equations of motion. We demonstrate the new results that dissipation-induced phase-dependent noise is a consequence of including the counter-rotating terms and that the noise is phase-independent for the case that the counterrotating terms are excluded. The relation between these results and recent work on quantum tunnelling in superconducting quantum interference devices is discussed. We conclude by suggesting further research related to the work in this thesis.

•Nov 1, 1987•0 citations

Time evolution of minimum uncertainty states of a harmonic oscillator

H. A. Gersch

A single closed-form expression is obtained for the probability amplitude ψ(x,t) for a harmonic oscillator whose initial state ψ(x,0) has a minimum value for the uncertainty product of position x and momentum p, Δx Δp=ℏ/2. This form describes both coherent and squeezed states. Oscillations in time for uncertainties in position and momentum, characteristic of squeezed states, are shown to follow directly from the derived form of ψ(x,t) and from Heisenberg equations of motion for operators x̂ and p̂. Expressions for average photon number and its uncertainty are obtained from calculations of average oscillator energy and fluctuations about this energy.

American Journal of Physics•Nov 1, 1992•15 citations

Quantum nondemolition measurements of a qubit coupled to a harmonic oscillator

Luca Chirolli, Guido Burkard

We theoretically describe the weak measurement of a two-level system (qubit) and quantify the degree to which such a qubit measurement has a quantum nondemolition (QND) character. The qubit is coupled to a harmonic oscillator, which undergoes a projective measurement. Information on the qubit state is extracted from the oscillator measurement outcomes, and the QND character of the measurement is inferred from the result of subsequent measurements of the oscillator. We use the positive operator valued measure (POVM) formalism to describe the qubit measurement. Two mechanisms lead to deviations from a perfect QND measurement: (i) the quantum fluctuations of the oscillator, and (ii) quantum tunneling between the qubit states $|0⟩$ and $|1⟩$ during measurements. Our theory can be applied to QND measurements performed on superconducting qubits coupled to a circuit oscillator.

arXiv:0906.0906•Physical Review B•Nov 18, 2009•7 citations

Quantum measurement and control of a mechanical parametric oscillator

Alex Szorkovszky

Unlike classical systems, the very act of observing quantum systems perturbs their behaviour. This introduces noise, which imposes limits on the knowledge that can be obtained through measurement. Certain measurement techniques, known generally as quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements, exist to circumvent this noise. An alternative method to evade backaction noise is to amplify the observable of interest above the noise. However, this generally leaves the system in a different state, and is therefore not considered a QND measurement. In this thesis, I examine the benefits of amplification for various kinds of measurement of mechanical harmonic oscillators which, at the micrometre and nanometre scale, comprise an emerging quantum technology. For this prototypical case, modulation of the spring constant, also known as parametric amplification, is a well-studied noiseless amplification technique. Using the theory of trajectories developed in the field of quantum optics, I show that a weak measurement combined with a detuned parametric drive achieves the same ends as strong QND measurement. Namely, it allows backaction-free observation of one quadrature of mechanical motion, and through this, quantum squeezing below the quantum zero-point motion. This equivalence is experimentally confirmed in the classical limit using an optically detected, electrically modulated cantilever. In addition, I analyse similar amplification enhanced techniques for quantum entanglement and quantum tomography. These results are applicable to research in quantum optomechanics and electromechanics, and can be translated to other kinds of quantum harmonic oscillators, such as microwave cavities.

•Nov 30, 2014•1 citation
With a proper choice of the initial wave function it is possible to obtain reduced or squeezed quantum fluctuations of the un- certainty of the position operator for a free particle.1 Such an effect is important for the so-called quantum nondemolition measurements of weak external signals. We show that for both free-motion and harmonic oscillation such a property holds owing to the conformal invariance of the Schrodinger equation. We show that for harmonic oscillation it is possible to reduce the quantum fluctuations of the measured photon below the standard quantum limit.2 Possible applications to optical communications and weak signal detections are also presented
While it is true that quantum mechanics imposes strict limits on the precision of measurements, we can sometimes improve measurement precision without violating the uncertainty principle. The rub is that this improvement may be formidable to achieve in practice—and always comes at the expense of a loss in the precision of a complementary measurement. Last October a team at AT&T Bell Labs succeeded in reducing the noise observed from an optical cavity below the “shot noise”—the level of fluctuations associated with variations in the vacuum fields, which is the ultimate limit to accuracy that would be predicted by semiclassical models. Although the Bell Labs experiment reduced the noise below this level by only 7 to 10%, it bolstered hopes that continued progress might eventually yield reductions in noise by factors of ten. Manipulation of the quantum noise limitations might be absolutely critical to such precision measurements as detection of gravity waves, whose faint signals are likely to be near the measurement limit of laser interferometers or mechanical oscillators. The phenomenon might possibly find applications in optical communication or optical memory systems.
The nature of phase noise in quantum optics is analyzed. In an experiment involving the measurement of the electromagnetic field the two quantities of interest are the energy and phase of the field. However, measurements of the quantities produce quantum fluctuations. The quantum fluctuations are regarded as noise in the treatment presented here. The quantum system is represented by a probability distribution, the Wigner function, and the quantum fluctuations are treated as stochastic noise associated with the quantity being measured. The difficulties of associating a quantum operator with the phase of the system are reviewed and the related energy-phase uncertainty relation is discussed. The alternate interpretation of the phase noise of a quantum system as being the classical phase noise of the Wigner function is presented. In particular the energy and phase noise of the vacuum state, the coherent state, the squeezed state and the squeezed vacuum are discussed in this way. The squeezed states of light are minimum uncertainty states with respect to the quadrature operators and exhibit noise of one quadrature below the noise level associated with the vacuum. The reduced noise level in one quadrature of the field underlies the importance of squeezed states in many practical applications where there is a need to reduce the quantum noise of one quadrature of coherent light. The periodic phase operator eliminates the difficulties associated with the multivalued nature of phase. The analysis of the vacuum and intense coherent state of Carruthers and Nieto by employing periodic phase operators is reviewed, particularly with respect to the energy-phase uncertainty relations and we generalize the approach to develop a phase operator analysis of the squeezed state in the intense field and vacuum limits. We demonstrate here for the first time that the phase operator is simply related to the phase of the squeezed state in the intense field limit and that the squeezed state is approximately an energy-phase minimum uncertainty state in the low-squeezing limit. Also we enlarge on previous work to demonstrate that the phase operator corresponds simply and unambiguously to the phase of the squeeze parameter for the strongly squeezed vacuum and the intensely squeezed vacuum is an energy-phase minimum uncertainty state for some values of phase. The occurrence of squeezing for the case of two coupled quantum oscillators is presented. The system consisting of one mode of the electromagnetic field coupled to a spinless nonrelativistic electron subjected to an harmonic potential is represented by two coupled harmonic oscillators. The dynamics are compared for the case that the rotating wave approximation is employed and for the case that the counter-rotating terms are included. These calculations have not been performed before. The parametric amplifier Hamiltonian with a nonresonant coupling is also studied in order to provide insight into the effects of the counter-rotating terms. Squeezing of the field produced by the electron is a consequence of the inclusion of the counter-rotating terms. The case of a spinless nonrelativistic electron subject to an harmonic potential and coupled to a continuum of electromagnetic field modes is also considered. The case of two coupled oscillators discussed above is generalized by replacing the oscillator which represents the single-mode field by a bath of oscillators. The effects of including counter-rotating terms and of ignoring the counter - rotating terms in the Hamiltonian are compared. The interaction is assumed to produce a frequency shift and an exponential damping term for the oscillating electron. The frequency shift is assumed to be small in either case and so the Wigner-Weisskopff approximation is employed to solve the equations of motion. We demonstrate the new results that dissipation-induced phase-dependent noise is a consequence of including the counter-rotating terms and that the noise is phase-independent for the case that the counterrotating terms are excluded. The relation between these results and recent work on quantum tunnelling in superconducting quantum interference devices is discussed. We conclude by suggesting further research related to the work in this thesis.
A single closed-form expression is obtained for the probability amplitude ψ(x,t) for a harmonic oscillator whose initial state ψ(x,0) has a minimum value for the uncertainty product of position x and momentum p, Δx Δp=ℏ/2. This form describes both coherent and squeezed states. Oscillations in time for uncertainties in position and momentum, characteristic of squeezed states, are shown to follow directly from the derived form of ψ(x,t) and from Heisenberg equations of motion for operators x̂ and p̂. Expressions for average photon number and its uncertainty are obtained from calculations of average oscillator energy and fluctuations about this energy.
We theoretically describe the weak measurement of a two-level system (qubit) and quantify the degree to which such a qubit measurement has a quantum nondemolition (QND) character. The qubit is coupled to a harmonic oscillator, which undergoes a projective measurement. Information on the qubit state is extracted from the oscillator measurement outcomes, and the QND character of the measurement is inferred from the result of subsequent measurements of the oscillator. We use the positive operator valued measure (POVM) formalism to describe the qubit measurement. Two mechanisms lead to deviations from a perfect QND measurement: (i) the quantum fluctuations of the oscillator, and (ii) quantum tunneling between the qubit states ∣0⟩|0⟩∣0⟩ and ∣1⟩|1⟩∣1⟩ during measurements. Our theory can be applied to QND measurements performed on superconducting qubits coupled to a circuit oscillator.
Unlike classical systems, the very act of observing quantum systems perturbs their behaviour. This introduces noise, which imposes limits on the knowledge that can be obtained through measurement. Certain measurement techniques, known generally as quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements, exist to circumvent this noise. An alternative method to evade backaction noise is to amplify the observable of interest above the noise. However, this generally leaves the system in a different state, and is therefore not considered a QND measurement. In this thesis, I examine the benefits of amplification for various kinds of measurement of mechanical harmonic oscillators which, at the micrometre and nanometre scale, comprise an emerging quantum technology. For this prototypical case, modulation of the spring constant, also known as parametric amplification, is a well-studied noiseless amplification technique. Using the theory of trajectories developed in the field of quantum optics, I show that a weak measurement combined with a detuned parametric drive achieves the same ends as strong QND measurement. Namely, it allows backaction-free observation of one quadrature of mechanical motion, and through this, quantum squeezing below the quantum zero-point motion. This equivalence is experimentally confirmed in the classical limit using an optically detected, electrically modulated cantilever. In addition, I analyse similar amplification enhanced techniques for quantum entanglement and quantum tomography. These results are applicable to research in quantum optomechanics and electromechanics, and can be translated to other kinds of quantum harmonic oscillators, such as microwave cavities.