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Physical Review Letters

Reversible Decoherence of a Mesoscopic Superposition of Field States

J. M. Raimond, M. Brune, S. Haroche

Published Sep 15, 1997• 228 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe the blueprint of an experiment in which the decoherence of a mesoscopic superposition of radiation states (``Schr\"odinger cat'') becomes a reversible process. When the high $Q$ cavity containing the Schr\"odinger cat is coupled to another resonator, the mesoscopic quantum coherence first decays rapidly, then exhibits sharp revivals with the period of the energy exchange between the two cavities. The interpretation of this experiment emphasizes the link between decoherence and complementarity and leads to an illuminating quantitative interpretation of the usual irreversible decoherence phenomenon.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.79.1964

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We describe the blueprint of an experiment in which the decoherence of a mesoscopic superposition of radiation states (``Schr"odinger cat'') becomes a reversible process. When the high QQQ cavity containing the Schr"odinger cat is coupled to another resonator, the mesoscopic quantum coherence first decays rapidly, then exhibits sharp revivals with the period of the energy exchange between the two cavities. The interpretation of this experiment emphasizes the link between decoherence and complementarity and leads to an illuminating quantitative interpretation of the usual irreversible decoherence phenomenon.
A mesoscopic superposition of quantum states involving radiation fields with classically distinct phases was created and its progressive decoherence observed. The experiment involved Rydberg atoms interacting one at a time with a few photon coherent field trapped in a high QQQ microwave cavity. The mesoscopic superposition was the equivalent of an `` atom+measuringapparatus\mathrm{atom}+\mathrm{measuring}\mathrm{apparatus}atom+measuringapparatus'' system in which the ``meter'' was pointing simultaneously towards two different directions---a ``Schr\"odinger cat.'' The decoherence phenomenon transforming this superposition into a statistical mixture was observed while it unfolded, providing a direct insight into a process at the heart of quantum measurement.
Decoherence is an extremely fast and efficient environment-induced process transforming macroscopic quantum superpositions into statistical mixtures. It is an essential step in quantum measurement and a formidable obstacle for a practical use of quantum superpositions (quantum computing for instance). For large objects, decoherence is so fast that its dynamics is unobservable. Mesoscopic fields stored in a high-quality superconducting millimeter-wave cavity, a modern equivalent to Einstein’s ‘photon box’, are ideal tools to reveal the dynamics of the decoherence process. Their interaction with a single circular Rydberg atom prepares them in a quantum superposition of fields, containing a few photons, with different classical phases. The evolution of this ‘Schrödinger cat’ state can be later probed with a ‘quantum mouse’, another atom, assessing its coherence. We describe here the experiments performed along these lines at ENS, and stress the deep links between decoherence and complementarity. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Summary form only given. Decoherence, i.e., the rapid destruction of the phase relation between two quantum states of a system caused by the entanglement of these two states with two different states of the environment, is the main limiting factor for quantum information processing. For this reason decoherence control is now becoming a rapidly expanding field of investigation. The progressive decoherence of a mesoscopic Schrodinger cat state has been observed for the first time in the experiment of Brune et al where the linear superposition of two coherent states of a field in a microwave cavity, with classically distinct phases, has been generated and detected.