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arXiv:quant-ph/0511154

Continuous measurements on continuous variable quantum systems: The Gaussian description

Lars Bojer Madsen, Klaus Mølmer

Published Nov 16, 2005• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Gaussian state description of continuous variables is adapted to describe the quantum interaction between macroscopic atomic samples and continuous-wave light beams. The formalism is very efficient: a non-linear differential equation for the covariance matrix of the atomic system explicitly accounts for both the unitary evolution, the dissipation and noise due to the atom-light interaction, and the back-action due to homodyne optical detection on the beam after its interaction with the atoms. Applications to atomic spin squeezing and estimation of unknown classical parameters are presented, and extensions beyond the Gaussian states are discussed.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0511154

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The Gaussian state description of continuous variables is adapted to describe the quantum interaction between macroscopic atomic samples and continuous-wave light beams. The formalism is very efficient: a non-linear differential equation for the covariance matrix of the atomic system explicitly accounts for both the unitary evolution, the dissipation and noise due to the atom-light interaction, and the back-action due to homodyne optical detection on the beam after its interaction with the atoms. Applications to atomic spin squeezing and estimation of unknown classical parameters are presented, and extensions beyond the Gaussian states are discussed.
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We address measurement-based generation of quantum coherence in continuous variable systems. We consider Gaussian measurements performed on Gaussian states and focus on two scenarios: In the first one, we assume an initially correlated bipartite state shared by two parties and study how correlations may be exploited to remotely create quantum coherence via measurement back action. In particular, we focus on conditional states with zero first moments, so as to address coherence due to properties of the covariance matrix. We consider different classes of bipartite states with incoherent marginals and show that the larger the measurement squeezing, the larger the conditional coherence. Homodyne detection is thus the optimal Gaussian measurement to remotely generate coherence. We also show that for squeezed thermal states there exists a threshold value for the generated coherence which separates entangled and separable states at a fixed energy. Finally, we briefly discuss the tripartite case and the relationship between tripartite correlations and the conditional two-mode coherence. In the second scenario, we address the steady-state coherence of a system interacting with an environment which is continuously monitored. In particular, we discuss the dynamics of an optical parametric oscillator in order to investigate how the coherence of a Gaussian state may be increased by means of time-continuous Gaussian measurement on the interacting environment.
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We present a general analysis of the state obtained by subjecting a continuous-wave (cw) Gaussian field to non-Gaussian measurements. The generic multimode state of a cw Gaussian field is fully characterized by the time dependent mean values and variances and the two-time covariances of the field quadrature variables. We present a general theory to extract from this information the results of detection and quantum state reduction within specific temporal output modes. The formalism is applied to schemes for heralded production of propagating light pulses with single photon and Schroedinger kitten states from a cw squeezed beam of light.