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

Frontiers in Optics

Measuring the complex weak value of photon wavefunctions beyond weak interaction regime

Kai Wang, Steffen Weimann, Tim Richardt, Felix Zimmermann, Alexander S. Solntsev, Stefan Nolte, Andrey A. Sukhorukov, Alexander Szameit

Published Jan 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We measure the complex weak value beyond the weak interaction regime between the measurement apparatus and the measured photon wavefunction based on the direct measurement scheme.
DOI
10.1364/fio.2017.fth1a.3

Related papers

Direct measurement of the wavefunction of a single photon

C. Bamber, Jeff S. Lundeen, Aabid Patel +2 more

The photon wavefunction is measured by a direct method that does not require computation reconstruction. A reading on our measurement apparatus is directly proportional to the real and imaginary parts of the wavefunction.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2011•1 citation

Weak values and direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction

Robert W. Boyd

We review recent work showing that weak values and weak measurements can be used to perform certain measurements with unprecedented accuracy and moreover can be used to perform a direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction.

The Rochester Conferences on Coherence and Quantum Optics and the Quantum Information and Measurement meeting•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Weak values and direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction

Robert W. Boyd

We review recent work showing that weak values and weak measurements can be used to perform certain measurements with unprecedented accuracy and moreover can be used to perform a direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction.

The Rochester Conferences on Coherence and Quantum Optics and the Quantum Information and Measurement meeting•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Weak values and direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction

Robert W. Boyd

We review recent work showing that weak values and weak measurements can be used to perform certain measurements with high accuracy and moreover can be used to directly measure the quantum wavefunction.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Quantum states as complex probabilities: The physics behind direct observations of photon wavefunctions in weak measurements

Holger Friedrich Hofmann

Weak measurements of photon position can be used to obtain direct experimental evidence of the wavefunction of a photon between generation and ultimate detection. Significantly, these measurement results can also be understood as complex valued conditional probabilities of intermediate photon positions. It is therefore possible to interpret the quantum state as a complex valued probability distribution from which measurement probabilities can be derived according to Bayesian rules. The conventional measurement probabilities derived from squares of the wavefunction then describes the effects of measurement back-action, which originate from a non-classical relation between dynamics and statistics that is characteristic of quantum mechanics. It is pointed out that this relation can be used to derive the complete Hilbert space formalism directly from complex probabilities, without the axiomatic introduction of quantum states or operators.

arXiv:1311.0093•Nov 1, 2013•0 citations

Experimental simultaneous readout of the real and imaginary parts of the weak value

Alireza Hariri, Davor Curic, Lambert Giner +1 more

The weak value, the average result of a weak measurement, has proven useful for probing quantum and classical systems. Examples include amplifying small signals, investigating quantum paradoxes, and elucidating fundamental quantum phenomena such as geometric phase. A key characteristic of the weak value is that it can be complex, in contrast to a standard expectation value. However, typically only either the real or imaginary component of the weak value is determined in a given experimental setup. Weak measurements can be used to, in a sense, simultaneously measure noncommuting observables. This principle was used in the direct measurement of the quantum wave function. However, the wave function's real and imaginary components, given by a weak value, are determined in different setups or on separate ensembles of systems, putting the procedure's directness in question. To address these issues, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a general method to simultaneously read out both components of the weak value in a single experimental apparatus. In particular, we directly measure the polarization state of an ensemble of photons using weak measurement. With our method, each photon contributes to both the real and imaginary parts of the weak-value average. On a fundamental level, this suggests that the full complex weak value is a characteristic of each photon measured.

arXiv:1906.02263•Physical Review A•Sep 24, 2019•23 citations
Weak measurements of photon position can be used to obtain direct experimental evidence of the wavefunction of a photon between generation and ultimate detection. Significantly, these measurement results can also be understood as complex valued conditional probabilities of intermediate photon positions. It is therefore possible to interpret the quantum state as a complex valued probability distribution from which measurement probabilities can be derived according to Bayesian rules. The conventional measurement probabilities derived from squares of the wavefunction then describes the effects of measurement back-action, which originate from a non-classical relation between dynamics and statistics that is characteristic of quantum mechanics. It is pointed out that this relation can be used to derive the complete Hilbert space formalism directly from complex probabilities, without the axiomatic introduction of quantum states or operators.
The weak value, the average result of a weak measurement, has proven useful for probing quantum and classical systems. Examples include amplifying small signals, investigating quantum paradoxes, and elucidating fundamental quantum phenomena such as geometric phase. A key characteristic of the weak value is that it can be complex, in contrast to a standard expectation value. However, typically only either the real or imaginary component of the weak value is determined in a given experimental setup. Weak measurements can be used to, in a sense, simultaneously measure noncommuting observables. This principle was used in the direct measurement of the quantum wave function. However, the wave function's real and imaginary components, given by a weak value, are determined in different setups or on separate ensembles of systems, putting the procedure's directness in question. To address these issues, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a general method to simultaneously read out both components of the weak value in a single experimental apparatus. In particular, we directly measure the polarization state of an ensemble of photons using weak measurement. With our method, each photon contributes to both the real and imaginary parts of the weak-value average. On a fundamental level, this suggests that the full complex weak value is a characteristic of each photon measured.