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Annales de Physique

Characterization of quantum non-demolition measurements in optics

J.-Ph. Poizat, Jean-François Roch, Philippe Grangier

Published Jan 1, 1994• 65 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a review of the criteria developped to characterize the efficiency of quantum non-demolition measurement devices for travelling electromagnetic waves. These criteria describe respectively the quality of the measurement, the non-destruction of the signal, and the quantum correlations between the meter read-out and the signal output. Quantitative limits can be defined with respect to these criteria, delimiting classicad and quantum domains of operation. Moreover, some questions related to the gain on the signal channel, and to repeated QND measurements, will be also discussed.

DOI
10.1051/anphys:01994001903026500

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We present a review of the criteria developped to characterize the efficiency of quantum non-demolition measurement devices for travelling electromagnetic waves. These criteria describe respectively the quality of the measurement, the non-destruction of the signal, and the quantum correlations between the meter read-out and the signal output. Quantitative limits can be defined with respect to these criteria, delimiting classicad and quantum domains of operation. Moreover, some questions related to the gain on the signal channel, and to repeated QND measurements, will be also discussed.
We discuss some theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements in the optical domain. The efficiency of a QND measurement can be characterized using three criteria, which describe respectively the quality of the quantum measurement, the non-destruction of the signal, and the conditional variance of the output signal beam, given the output meter beam (quantum-state-preparation criterion). Quantitative limits can be defined with respect to these criteria, delimiting "classical" and "quantum" domains of operation. We describe the implementation of two experiments which fulfill these criteria, using either three-level atoms inside a doubly-resonant optical cavity, or semiconductors emitters and receivers.
An extensive debate on quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement, reviewed in Grangier et al (1998 Nature 396 537), finds that true QND measurements must have both non-classical state-preparation capability and non-classical information-damage tradeoff. Existing figures of merit for these non-classicality criteria require direct measurement of the signal variable and are thus difficult to apply to optically-probed material systems. Here we describe a method to demonstrate both criteria without need for to direct signal measurements. Using a covariance matrix formalism and a general noise model, we compute meter observables for QND measurement triples, which suffice to compute all QND figures of merit. The result will allow certified QND measurement of atomic spin ensembles using existing techniques.
This is a limited overview of quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements, with brief discussions of illustrative examples meant to clarify the essential features. In a QND measurement, the predictability of a subsequent value of a precisely measured observable is maintained and any random back-action from uncertainty introduced into a noncommuting observable is avoided. The fundamental ideas, relevant theory and the conditions and scope for applicability are discussed with some examples. Precision measurements have indeed gained from developing QND measurements. Some implementations in quantum optics, gravitational wave detectors and spin-magnetometry are discussed.
The fundamental question of when a static or dynamic system should be deemed intrinsically quantum remains a challenge to address in absolute terms. In this regard, a critical requirement lies in the certification (ideally, in real-time) of the emergence and persistence of genuine quantum features, principally entanglement and quantum superposition. Quantum Non-Demolition Measurements (QNDM) serve as the appropriate instrument for this certification, both from a theoretical and experimental standpoint. In this review paper, we explain, with accessible clarity, how the implementation of QNDM can be directly linked to a necessary and sufficient condition for the presence of genuinely quantum features in the system's state monitored over time in finite-dimensional systems, establishing a conceptual parallel with Leggett-Garg inequalities. Using concrete examples that detail the detection of negative terms in the quasi-probability density function resulting from QNDM, we introduce the core concepts for quantumness certification. As specific examples, we discuss an application where the quantum-to-classical transition due to the interaction with an environment can be tracked by QNDM. Moreover, we argue about the robustness of QNDM protocols in the presence of noise sources and their advantages with respect to standard Leggett-Garg inequalities defined by two-time correlators.
Summary form only given. The present techniques allow one to perform continuous or discrete quantum measurements at or even beyond the standard "quantum noise" level, even on single quantum objects. In this context, Kip Thorne and Vladimir Braginsky introduced in the seventies the concept of "Quantum Non Demolition (QND) measurement", which was initially meant to be applied to mechanical harmonic oscillators designed for detecting gravitational waves, the so-called "Weber's bars". But the QND ideas encountered a real success in quantum optics, where quantum fluctuations are readily accessible, and can also be circumvented. We review the state of the art of QND measurements, in this broad sense of sub-shot-noise optical information processing. Most of the initial objectives of QND measurements have now been successfully reached through proof-of-principle experiments. The domain is now opening on future perspectives related to quantum information processing (e.g. quantum cryptography), either with "discrete" or "continuous" quantum variables. In this context the close relationship between QND measurements and controlled-NOT (CNOT) gates are discussed and illustrated.