Simultaneous Measurements of Canonically Conjugate Variables in Quantum Optics

Abstract

The well-known schemes for simultaneous measurement of canonically conjugate variables in quantum optics based on beam-splitting, amplification and heterodyning are analysed in the Heisenberg picture. It is shown that the operators representing the measured observables share a common structure. The measured phase-space probability is a non-negative smoothed Wigner function.     

Quadrature operators with arbitrary phase and applications to phase-space distribution and quantum communication

Quadrature operators with arbitrary phase are studied from a point of view of the phase-space representation of quantum states, and the results are applied to simultaneous measurement and quantum communication. The Wigner function of arbitrary phase quadrature variables is introduced, which is a generalization of the usual Wigner function of position and momentum. The Kirkwood distribution is also extended for arbitrary phase quadrature variables. The simultaneous measurement of two quadrature operators is investigated using a beam splitter model and a generalized version of the Arthurs-Kelley model. The quantum teleportation of continuous variables is considered in terms of arbitrary phase quadrature variables. A general formula is derived that provides the quantum teleportation channel. The fidelity of the quantum teleportation with an uncontrollable phase is calculated for a coherent state. Furthermore, the mutual information of the quantum dense coding of continuous variables is obtained when classical information is encoded on arbitrary phase quadrature variables. The result is compared with that of the communication system, where information is transmitted using coherent and squeezed states.     

Commutation Rules and Eigenvalues of Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum of Radiation Fields

Abstract

We investigate the separation of the total angular momentum J of the electromagnetic field into a ‘spin’ part S and an ‘orbital’ part L. We show that both ‘spin’ and ‘orbital’ angular momentum are observables. However, the transversality of the radiation field affects the commutation relations for the associated quantum operators. This implies that neither S nor L are angular momentum operators. Moreover their eigenvalues are not discrete. We construct field modes such that each mode excitation (photon) is in a simultaneous eigenstate of S _z and L _z. We consider the interaction of such a photon with an atom and the resulting effect on the internal and external part of the atomic angular momentum.     

Generation of amplitude squeezed states of light from phase squeezed coherent states

Abstract

We propose a scheme to generate a displaced macroscopic superposition of phase squeezed coherent states by incorporating an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and a nonlinear Kerr medium in a Mach-Zhender interferometer configuration. We show that the phase squeezed coherent state generated by the OPO evolves into a macroscopic superposition of phase squeezed coherent states on spending a specific amount of time inside a Kerr medium. The phase space displacement is achieved by the interference of the intense reference beam with the signal in the final beam splitter of the interferometer. The noise of the reference beam contaminating the signal is prevented by making this beam splitter highly reflective. We have calculated the photon number uncertainty of the outcoming beam and have shown that it is smaller than the usual amplitude squeezed coherent state's value.     

Electron–photon equation of motion with application to the Lamb shift

An equation of motion (EOM) is proposed for the electron which includes the effect of the radiation field on the electron's motion. The new EOM – the electron–photon EOM (EPEOM) – is the same as Dirac's equation with the ‘bare’ or mechanical mass replaced by a complex electromagnetic mass whose real part is interpreted as the observed mass of the electron. The Lamb shift is calculated from the difference of the EPEOM energy and the Dirac-equation energy.     

Influence of Resqueezing on Nonclassical Photon Statistics

Abstract

The nonclassical photon statistics of one-mode and two-mode combination squeezed states introduced recently by Fan, which have less fluctuation in one quadrature phase than the usual two-mode squeezed states, is discussed. It is found that increasing the degree of two-mode squeezing cannot always increase the photon antibunching depth of these generalized two-mode squeezed states.     

Deflection of Atoms by Circularly Polarized Light Beams in Triple Laue Configuration

Abstract

A new type of atomic interferometer is discussed, in which atoms with two ground-state Zeeman sub-levels m = ± 1, and an excited state with m = 0, pass through three laser interaction zones—each comprising two counter-propagating waves of opposite circular polarization with a large detuning from resonance. By means of Raman-type transitions between the two ground-state levels, which convey a recoil of two photon momenta, the atomic wave function is split up into two coherent spatially separated branches, and subsequently recombined. In this system, conservation of energy and momentum leads to a strong correlation between the external centre of mass motion and internal magnetic degrees of freedom. As a consequence, the paths within the interferometer are tagged by the internal quantum number m. As an example, we calculate the position and momentum distribution function of a helium atom on its way through the interferometer.     

An analysis of the angular momentum of a light field in terms of angular harmonics

Abstract

This paper proposes an optical interpretation for the Lie algebra's symmetry operators of the paraxial wave equation. In particular, the angular momentum operator is used to derive a relation for the expression of the angular momentum of an arbitrary light field in terms of angular harmonics. Furthermore, experimental results are presented demonstrating a filter that extracts angular harmonics from different Gauss-Laguerre modes.     

Quantum Phase Angles and su(∞)

Abstract

The polar decomposition of the su(2) algebra leads to unitary phase operators which do not close to an algebra with the number operator. It is shown that phase and number operators can be embedded into a larger su(2j + 1) algebra with trigonometric structure constants. In the contraction limit where we pass from the su(2) to the oscillator algebra, the embedding algebra for the phase operators becomes su(∞). The coherent states realization of the su(∞) algebra and its relation to the q-deformed oscillator algebra is briefly discussed.     

Optical manipulation of multiple stable states in photorefractive four-wave mixing

Abstract

We propose an approach to manipulate the convergence in multiple solutions of phase conjugate reflectivity in photorefractive four-wave mixing. Although a method forcibly adding a π-phase shift to an incident beam has been already proposed to control the reflectivity, some restrictions have been required in the boundary conditions for the successful operation. Here, we control the reflectivity with the boundary conditions in which the phase shift operation is ineffective by itself. In our method, the phase shift operation is combined with the procedure of turning an incident beam on and off. With a numerical analysis of four-wave mixing, we show that our new approach brings drastic change in the spatial distribution of the index grating and leads the phase conjugate reflectivity which was not manipulated previously.     

On the Quantum Mechanics of Squeezed States

Abstract

We show that the squeezed states of quantum optics are physically and mathematically equivalent to Gaussian wave packets. In the framework of wave mechanics it is possible to formulate and investigate in a very simple way all the properties of reduced or squeezed fluctuations of the position and momentum operators. We study squeezed quantum fluctuations of a minimum-uncertainty Gaussian wave function under two different dynamical conditions of free evolution and harmonic oscillation.     

A scheme for the simultaneous measurement of atomic position and momentum

Abstract

We propose an optical scheme for the simultaneous measurement of the position and momentum of a single atom. The scheme involves the coupling of the atom of two light fields with different spatial and polarization characteristics. The proposed technique is closely related to the Arthurs-Kelly measurement scheme; the principal difference is that in the present case the values of the position and momentum are inferred from phase shifts in electromagnetic fields rather than from shifts in the position of a pointer.     

Accuracy of sampling quantum phase space in a photon counting experiment

Abstract

We study the accuracy of determining the phase space quasi-distribution of a single quantized light mode by a photon counting experiment. We derive an exact analytical formula for the error of the experimental outcome. This result provides an estimate of the experimental parameters, such as the number of events, required to determine the quasi-distribution with assumed precision. Our analysis also shows that it is, in general, not possible to compensate for the imperfection of the photodetector in the numerical processing of the experimental data. The discussion is illustrated with Monte Carlo simulations of the photon counting experiment for the coherent state, the one photon Fock state, and the Schrödinger cat state.     

Phase properties of two-mode gaussian light fields with application to Raman scattering

Abstract

We investigate quantum phase properties of two-mode optical fields whose quasidistributions have Gaussian form. We show how to simplify the calculation of the joint phase distribution defined via radial integration of the quasidistribution related to s-ordering of the field operators. We find an analytical formula for the joint phase distribution when coherent components of both modes vanish. The general results are applied to analysis of quantum phase properties of the two-mode Stokes-anti-Stokes field generated by means of Raman scattering with a broad reservoir phonon system and strong coherent laser pumping.     

Superposition Phases and Squeezing

Abstract

Quadrature variances of a radiation field depend not only on the photon number distribution in the field but also on the relative phases of the photon number probability amplitudes. Two fields with the same photon number distribution can show different degrees of squeezing if photon number states are superposed with different relative phases. It is thus possible, for example, for a radiation field with Poissonian photon statistics to exhibit squeezed quadrature fluctuations. Since different relative superposition phases in general yield different maximum and minimum values of the quadrature variances, measurement of the variances can yield information concerning the relative phases between different number states.     

On foundational aspects of optical quantum communication

ABSTRACT

Using a simple model of the quantized photon field in an optical fibre we suggest a model of quantum teleportation of continuous variables which is more realistic than the usual one in the sense that the localization properties of the quantities to be teleported are taken into account.     

Quasi mode theory of macroscopic canonical quantization in quantum optics and cavity quantum electrodynamics

Abstract

A macroscopic, canonical quantization of the EM field and radiating atom system in quantum optics and cavity QED involving classical, linear optical devices, based on expanding the vector potential in terms of quasi mode functions is presented. The quasi mode functions approximate the true mode functions for the device, and are obtained by solving the Helmholtz equation for an idealized spatially dependent electric permittivity function describing the device. The Hamiltonian for the EM field and radiating atom system is obtained in multipolar form and the quantum EM field is found to be equivalent to a set of quantum harmonic oscillators, one oscillator per quasi mode. However, unlike true mode theory where the quantum harmonic oscillators are uncoupled, in the quasi mode theory they are coupled and photon exchange processes can occur. Explicit expressions for the coupling constants are obtained. The interaction energy between the radiative atoms and the quantum EM field depends on the amplitudes of the quasi mode functions at the positions of the radiating atoms, similar to that for the true mode approach. The simpler forms for the quasi mode functions enable the atom-field interaction energy to be written in a form in which the atoms are only coupled to certain types of modes—for example cavity quasi modes, which are large inside the optical cavity. In such cases the escape of energy from excited atoms in the cavity can be pictured in quasi mode theory as a two step process—the atom de-excites and creates a photon in a cavity quasi mode, the photon in the cavity quasi mode is then lost and appears as a photon in an external quasi mode. In this process the first step occurs via the atom-cavity quasi mode interaction, the second through coupling between cavity and external quasi modes. This may be contrasted with the true mode approach, where the excited atom loses its energy and the photon is created in one of the true modes. As all true modes have non-zero amplitudes outside as well as inside the cavity, the escape of energy from excited atoms in the cavity is seen as a one step process. An application of the quasi mode theory to the quantum theory of the beam splitter is outlined. The unitary operator used to describe this device is a scattering operator, relating initial and long time values of annihilation, creation operators for pairs of incident and reflected modes, interpreted here as quasi modes.