Quantum Measurement of a Single System

With new technologies permitting the observation and manipulation of single quantum systems, the quantum theory of measurement is fast becoming a subject of experimental investigation in laboratories worldwide. This original new work addresses open fundamental questions in quantum mechanics in light of these experimental developments.

Using a novel analytical approach developed by the authors, Quantum Measurement of a Single System provides answers to three long-standing questions that have been debated by such thinkers as Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger. It establishes the quantum theoretical limits to information obtained in the measurement of a single system on the quantum wavefunction of the system, the time evolution of the quantum observables associated with the system, and the classical potentials or forces which shape this time evolution. The technological relevance of the theory is also demonstrated through examples from atomic physics, quantum optics, and mesoscopic physics.

Suitable for professionals, students, or readers with a general interest in quantum mechanics, the book features recent formulations as well as humorous illustrations of the basic concepts of quantum measurement. Researchers in physics and engineering will find Quantum Measurement of a Single System a timely guide to one of the most stimulating fields of science today.

Contents

• Open Fundamental Questions of Limits to Information in the Quantum Measurement of a Single System.
• Impossibility of Determining the Unknown Quantum Wavefunction of a Single System.
• Quantum Non-Demolition (QND) Measurements of a Single System.
• Measurements without Entanglement of a Single Quantum System.
• Adiabatic Measurements of a Single Quantum System.
• Quantum Zeno Effect of a Single System.
• Fundamental Quantum Limit to External Force Detection via Monitoring a Single Harmonic Oscillator (or Free Mass).
• Established Limits to Information in the Quantum Measurement of a Single System.
• Bibliography.