arXiv:quant-ph/0512138 · Physical Review A
Nondemolition observation of a free quantum particle
V. P. Belavkin, P. Staszewski
Abstract
A stochastic model of a continuous nondemolition observation of a quantum system is presented. The nonlinear stochastic wave equation describing the posterior dynamics of the observed quantum system is solved for a free particle of mass m>0. It is shown that the dispersion of the Gaussian wave packet does not increase to infinity as for a free unobserved particle, but tends to the finite limit ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\infty}}}^{2}$=(\ensuremath{\Elzxh}/2\ensuremath{\lambda}m${)}^{1/2}$, where \ensuremath{\lambda} is the accuracy coefficient of an indirect nondemolition measurement of the particle's position.