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Science

Response to Comment on "Coherent Control of Retinal Isomerization in Bacteriorhodopsin"

Valentyn I. Prokhorenko, Andrea M. Nagy, Stephen A. Waschuk, Leonid S. Brown, Robert R. Birge, R. J. Dwayne Miller

Published Jul 26, 2007• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Joffre attempts to show that the linear response of any quantum system to an external perturbation is phase insensitive, but he uses incorrect mathematical assumptions, misinterprets the time invariance principle, and ignores causality. We argue that the opposite case—an explicit phase dependence for a signal measured in the linear excitation regime—can equally be shown using Joffre's approach and assumptions.

DOI
10.1126/science.1137032

Related papers

Comment on "Coherent Control of Retinal Isomerization in Bacteriorhodopsin"

M. Joffre

Prokhorenko et al. (Research Articles, 1 September 2006, p. 1257) reported that, in the weak-field regime, the efficiency of retinal isomerization in bacteriorhodopsin can be controlled by modulating the spectral phase of the photoexcitation pulse. However, in the linear excitation regime, the signal measured in an experiment involving a time-invariant, stationary process can be shown to be independent of the pulse spectral phase.

Science•Jul 26, 2007•25 citations

Reply to “Comment on ‘Energy-level shift of quantum systems via the scalar electric Aharonov-Bohm effect' ”

R. Y. Chiao, Harold Hart, Michael Scheibner +4 more

We respond to the points raised in the preceding Comment [] on our recent work [], which introduced a theoretical framework for the scalar electric Aharonov-Bohm effect. In this Reply, we take the opportunity to address specific criticisms, by referring to foundational aspects of gauge invariance and time-dependent quantum systems. We explain why the gauging procedure used in the Comment leads to inconsistencies and show that, when applied similarly to the well-established magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect, it would yield demonstrably incorrect conclusions. Moreover, we highlight the consistency of our results with canonical treatments of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, and we reaffirm the physicality of energy shifts in field-free regions, an effect observed in the magnetic and predicted in the electric Aharonov-Bohm contexts. We believe that this response contributes to a deeper understanding of the subtleties involved in gauge theory and quantum phase phenomena.

Physical Review A•May 29, 2025•0 citations

Critique of "No-Signaling Condition and Quantum Dynamics"

George Svetlichny

We comment on the article of Ch. Simon, V. Buzek and N. Gisin: ``No-Signaling Condition and Quantum Dynamics'', Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 (2001) 170405, which argues that linearity of quantum mechanics follows from lack of superluminal signals and some usual hypotheses about measurements. We argue that such assumptions in the end are ineffective as an explanation of the linearity of quantum mechanics.

arXiv:quant-ph/0208049•Aug 7, 2002•3 citations

Real-time reconstruction of complex non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of matter

Veit Stooß, Stefano M. Cavaletto, Alexander Blättermann +4 more

Causality implies that by measuring an absorption spectrum, the time-dependent linear response function can be retrieved. Recent experiments suggest a link between the shape of spectral lines observed in absorption spectroscopy with the amplitude and phase of the systems response function. This has even been observed in the presence of strong, nonlinear interactions, which promote the observed system out of equilibrium, making it explicitly time dependent. Thus far, however, only the special case of a sudden modification of the response function was understood analytically, leaving the general case of the dynamical response to arbitrary interactions open to interpretation. Here, we demonstrate that even for the case of a strongly driven, time-dependent system, one can reconstruct the full temporal response information from a single spectrum if a sufficiently short signal is used to trigger the absorption process. This finding is directly applied to a time-domain observation of Rabi cycling between doubly-excited atomic states in the few-femtosecond regime. This general approach unlocks single-shot real-time-resolved signal reconstruction across time scales down to attoseconds for non-equilibrium states of matter. In contrast to available pump-probe schemes, there is no need for scanning time delays in order to access real-time information. The scientific applications of this technique range from testing fundamental quantum dynamics, to measuring and controlling ultrafast, chemical and biological reaction processes.

arXiv:1706.07218•Jun 22, 2017•0 citations

Replay to "Comment on 'Quantum phase for an arbitrary system with finite-dimensional Hilbert space'

D. Aesenovic, Nikola Burić, Dragomir M Davidović +1 more

We point out the crucial difference between the relative and absolute phase observables treated in our contribution \cite{1} and in the Comment by Hall and Pegg \cite{HP} respectively. The main contribution of our work is to show that the quantum expectation of the relative phase is highly discontinuous function of the frequency and to point out interesting dependence of the phase on the number-theoretic nature of the frequencies.

arXiv:1211.3697•Nov 15, 2012•0 citations

Evaluation of optical probe signals from nonequilibrium systems

Bijay Kumar Agarwalla, Konstantin E. Dorfman, Shaul Mukamel

We predict several effects associated with the optical response of systems prepared in a nonequilibrium state by impulsive optical excitations. The linear response depends on the phase of the electric field even if the initial nonequilibrium state has only populations, no coherences. Initial quantum coherences induce additional phase dependence, which also shows new resonances in nonlinear wave mixing. In systems strongly driven by an external optical field, the field frequency generates a phase-dependent probe absorption. This gives further control to manipulate the relative contribution to the linear signal due to initial populations and coherences.

arXiv:1503.08252•Physical Review A•May 4, 2015•2 citations
Joffre attempts to show that the linear response of any quantum system to an external perturbation is phase insensitive, but he uses incorrect mathematical assumptions, misinterprets the time invariance principle, and ignores causality. We argue that the opposite case—an explicit phase dependence for a signal measured in the linear excitation regime—can equally be shown using Joffre's approach and assumptions.
We respond to the points raised in the preceding Comment [] on our recent work [], which introduced a theoretical framework for the scalar electric Aharonov-Bohm effect. In this Reply, we take the opportunity to address specific criticisms, by referring to foundational aspects of gauge invariance and time-dependent quantum systems. We explain why the gauging procedure used in the Comment leads to inconsistencies and show that, when applied similarly to the well-established magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect, it would yield demonstrably incorrect conclusions. Moreover, we highlight the consistency of our results with canonical treatments of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, and we reaffirm the physicality of energy shifts in field-free regions, an effect observed in the magnetic and predicted in the electric Aharonov-Bohm contexts. We believe that this response contributes to a deeper understanding of the subtleties involved in gauge theory and quantum phase phenomena.
Causality implies that by measuring an absorption spectrum, the time-dependent linear response function can be retrieved. Recent experiments suggest a link between the shape of spectral lines observed in absorption spectroscopy with the amplitude and phase of the systems response function. This has even been observed in the presence of strong, nonlinear interactions, which promote the observed system out of equilibrium, making it explicitly time dependent. Thus far, however, only the special case of a sudden modification of the response function was understood analytically, leaving the general case of the dynamical response to arbitrary interactions open to interpretation. Here, we demonstrate that even for the case of a strongly driven, time-dependent system, one can reconstruct the full temporal response information from a single spectrum if a sufficiently short signal is used to trigger the absorption process. This finding is directly applied to a time-domain observation of Rabi cycling between doubly-excited atomic states in the few-femtosecond regime. This general approach unlocks single-shot real-time-resolved signal reconstruction across time scales down to attoseconds for non-equilibrium states of matter. In contrast to available pump-probe schemes, there is no need for scanning time delays in order to access real-time information. The scientific applications of this technique range from testing fundamental quantum dynamics, to measuring and controlling ultrafast, chemical and biological reaction processes.
We predict several effects associated with the optical response of systems prepared in a nonequilibrium state by impulsive optical excitations. The linear response depends on the phase of the electric field even if the initial nonequilibrium state has only populations, no coherences. Initial quantum coherences induce additional phase dependence, which also shows new resonances in nonlinear wave mixing. In systems strongly driven by an external optical field, the field frequency generates a phase-dependent probe absorption. This gives further control to manipulate the relative contribution to the linear signal due to initial populations and coherences.