Zeno dynamics in wave-packet diffraction spreading

Journal Article · Tue Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.052109· OSTI ID:22093456

Porras, Miguel A. ^[1]; Luis, Alfredo; Gonzalo, Isabel ^[2]; Sanz, Angel S. ^[3]

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1. Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Rios Rosas 21, ES-28003 Madrid (Spain)
2. Departamento de Optica, Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Complutense, ES-28040 Madrid (Spain)
3. Instituto de Fisica Fundamental-CSIC, Serrano 123, ES-28006 Madrid (Spain)

We analyze a simple and feasible practical scheme displaying Zeno, anti-Zeno, and inverse-Zeno effects in the observation of wave-packet spreading caused by free evolution. The scheme is valid both in spatial diffraction of classical optical waves and in time diffraction of a quantum wave packet. In the optical realization, diffraction spreading is observed by placing slits between a light source and a light-power detector. We show that the occurrence of Zeno or anti-Zeno effects depends just on the frequency of observations between the source and detector. These effects are seen to be related to the diffraction mode theory in Fabry-Perot resonators.

• OSTI ID: 22093456
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
DIFFRACTION
EIGENSTATES
EVOLUTION
LIGHT SOURCES
QUANTUM DECOHERENCE
QUANTUM MECHANICS
RESONATORS
VISIBLE RADIATION
WAVE PACKETS