Convergence of repeated quantum nondemolition measurements and wave-function collapse

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.044103· OSTI ID:22093410

Bauer, Michel ^[1]; Bernard, Denis ^[2]

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1. Institut de Physique Theorique de Saclay, CEA-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
2. Laboratoire de Physique Theorique de l'Ecole Normale Superieure, CNRS/ENS, Ecole Normale Superieure, 24 rue Lhomond, F-75005 Paris (France)

Motivated by recent experiments on quantum trapped fields, we give a rigorous proof that repeated indirect quantum nondemolition (QND) measurements converge to the collapse of the wave function as predicted by the postulates of quantum mechanics for direct measurements. We also relate the rate of convergence toward the collapsed wave function to the relative entropy of each indirect measurement, a result which makes contact with information theory.

• OSTI ID: 22093410
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 84; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CONVERGENCE
ENTROPY
INFORMATION THEORY
QUANTUM INFORMATION
QUANTUM MECHANICS
TRAPPING
WAVE FUNCTIONS