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

Physical Review A

Atomic Talbot interferometry as a sensitive tool for cavity quantum electrodynamics

Bernd Rohwedder, Marcelo França Santos

Published Jan 6, 2000• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atomic Talbot interferometry is shown to be potentially useful both for the experimental determination of arbitrary electromagnetic cavity photon number distributions and for the demonstration of the quantum nature of nearly classical light fields.
DOI
10.1103/physreva.61.023601

Related papers

Determination of the Wigner function of an optical field using the atomic Talbot effect

Bernd Rohwedder, L. Davidovich, Nicim Zagury

Fractional Talbot images in the de Broglie near-field of atoms diffracted by a dispersive light grating allow the measurement of the quantum state of an electromagnetic field in a cavity, in the optical domain.

Mysteries, Puzzles, and Paradoxes in Quantum Mechanics•Jan 1, 1999•0 citations

A short history of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

S. Haroche

Starting with early experiments about lifetimes of excited atoms near metallic boundaries, I review the evolution of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics in the microwave and in the optical domains. The coherent coupling of single atoms with photons in high-Q cavities has led to the demonstration of fundamental quantum effects in light-matter interaction processes and to the generation of micromasers and microlasers emitting radiation with non-classical properties. It has made possible the development of single photon light sources and efficient detectors of single atoms as well as the implementation of quantum information and communication procedures in which atoms and photons play the roles of quantum bits. Mesoscopic superpositions of field states have been generated by entangling single atoms to fields made of many photons and the decoherence of these states has been studied, shedding new light on the quantum to classical boundary. Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics has also led recently to the quantum non-demolition counting of photons in a cavity, opening new perspectives for studying non-classical states of radiation. These atomic physics experiments are now extended - with promising applications in perspective - to the study of solid-state devices with microcavities built on substrates and coupled to artificial atoms such as quantum dots or superconducting junctions.

The Rochester Conferences on Coherence and Quantum Optics and the Quantum Information and Measurement meeting•Jan 1, 2007•9 citations

Measuring the quantum state of an electromagnetic field using the atomic Talbot effect

Bernd Rohwedder, L. Davidovich, Nicim Zagury

Fractional Talbot images in the de Broglie near field of atoms diffracted by a dispersive light grating allow the measurement of the quantum state of an electromagnetic field in a cavity, in the optical domain. In particular, the photon-number statistics may be obtained, in principle, through a single experimental realization. It may be expressed as a Fourier transform of the atomic density on a plane situated at one-fourth of the Talbot distance from the light grating. The proposed measurement of the density matrix of a standing light wave using ``Talbot fingerprints'' should be feasible within the present state of the art.

Physical Review A•Jul 1, 1999•9 citations

Cavity quantum optics

S. Haroche

Elementary atom-photon interactions are strongly modified when the atom is confined to a small cavity. Interesting application in clued the generation and non-destructive measurement of microwave fields containing only a few photons and the production of “non-classical” radiation fields with reduced intensity fluctuations. This should lead to new fundamental tests of quantum theory at very low energies.

Physics World•Mar 1, 1991•6 citations

Talbot effect in the presence of interactions

Philipp Höllmer, Jean-Sébastien Bernier, Corinna Kollath +3 more

We study both experimentally and theoretically, considering bosonic atoms in a periodic potential, the influence of interactions in a Talbot interferometer. While interactions decrease the contrast of the revivals, we find that over a wide range of interactions the Talbot signal is still proportional to the phase coherence of the matter wave field. Our results confirm that Talbot interferometry can be a useful tool to study finite-range phase correlations in an optical lattice even in the presence of interactions. The relative robustness of the Talbot signal is supported by the first demonstration of the three-dimensional Talbot effect.

arXiv:1906.05615•Physical Review A•Dec 5, 2019•10 citations

QUANTUM MEASUREMENTS OF ATOMS USING CAVITY QED

Adetunmise C. Dada, Erika Andersson, Martin L. Jones +2 more

We propose schemes to realize two non-standard quantum measurements using cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). Such measurements have only been realized on photons, and realizations using atoms could be more easily scaled than existing realizations using photons.

International Conference on Quantum Information•Jan 1, 2011•0 citations
Starting with early experiments about lifetimes of excited atoms near metallic boundaries, I review the evolution of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics in the microwave and in the optical domains. The coherent coupling of single atoms with photons in high-Q cavities has led to the demonstration of fundamental quantum effects in light-matter interaction processes and to the generation of micromasers and microlasers emitting radiation with non-classical properties. It has made possible the development of single photon light sources and efficient detectors of single atoms as well as the implementation of quantum information and communication procedures in which atoms and photons play the roles of quantum bits. Mesoscopic superpositions of field states have been generated by entangling single atoms to fields made of many photons and the decoherence of these states has been studied, shedding new light on the quantum to classical boundary. Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics has also led recently to the quantum non-demolition counting of photons in a cavity, opening new perspectives for studying non-classical states of radiation. These atomic physics experiments are now extended - with promising applications in perspective - to the study of solid-state devices with microcavities built on substrates and coupled to artificial atoms such as quantum dots or superconducting junctions.
Fractional Talbot images in the de Broglie near field of atoms diffracted by a dispersive light grating allow the measurement of the quantum state of an electromagnetic field in a cavity, in the optical domain. In particular, the photon-number statistics may be obtained, in principle, through a single experimental realization. It may be expressed as a Fourier transform of the atomic density on a plane situated at one-fourth of the Talbot distance from the light grating. The proposed measurement of the density matrix of a standing light wave using ``Talbot fingerprints'' should be feasible within the present state of the art.
We study both experimentally and theoretically, considering bosonic atoms in a periodic potential, the influence of interactions in a Talbot interferometer. While interactions decrease the contrast of the revivals, we find that over a wide range of interactions the Talbot signal is still proportional to the phase coherence of the matter wave field. Our results confirm that Talbot interferometry can be a useful tool to study finite-range phase correlations in an optical lattice even in the presence of interactions. The relative robustness of the Talbot signal is supported by the first demonstration of the three-dimensional Talbot effect.