arXiv · 0910.3895
Continuous Measurement of Spin Systems with Spatially-Distinguishable Particles
Abstract
It is generally believed that dispersive polarimetric detection of collective angular momentum in large atomic spin systems gives rise to: squeezing in the measured observable, anti-squeezing in a conjugate observable, and collective spin eigenstates in the long-time limit (provided that decoherence is suitably controlled). We show that such behavior only holds when the particles in the ensemble cannot be spatially distinguished-- even in principle-- regardless of whether the measurement is only sensitive to collective observables. While measuring a cloud of spatially-distinguishable spin-1/2 particles does reduce the uncertainty in the measured spin component, it generates neither squeezing nor anti-squeezing. The steady state of the measurement is highly mixed, albeit with a well-defined value of the measured collective angular momentum observable.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Ben Q. Baragiola, Bradley A. Chase, JM Geremia. 2009-10-20. Continuous Measurement of Spin Systems with Spatially-Distinguishable Particles. https://arxiv.org/abs/0910.3895
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.