dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaObservation of the Quantum Zeno and Anti-Zeno effects in an unstable system
| Authors | M. C. Fischer, B. Gutierrez-Medina, M. G. Raizen |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0104035 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0104035 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.040402 |
Abstract
We report the first observation of the Quantum Zeno and Anti-Zeno effects in an unstable system. Cold sodium atoms are trapped in a far-detuned standing wave of light that is accelerated for a controlled duration. For a large acceleration the atoms can escape the trapping potential via tunneling. Initially the number of trapped atoms shows strong non-exponential decay features, evolving into the characteristic exponential decay behavior. We repeatedly measure the number of atoms remaining trapped during the initial period of non-exponential decay. Depending on the frequency of measurements we observe a decay that is suppressed or enhanced as compared to the unperturbed system.
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"abstract": "We report the first observation of the Quantum Zeno and Anti-Zeno effects in\nan unstable system. Cold sodium atoms are trapped in a far-detuned standing\nwave of light that is accelerated for a controlled duration. For a large\nacceleration the atoms can escape the trapping potential via tunneling.\nInitially the number of trapped atoms shows strong non-exponential decay\nfeatures, evolving into the characteristic exponential decay behavior. We\nrepeatedly measure the number of atoms remaining trapped during the initial\nperiod of non-exponential decay. Depending on the frequency of measurements we\nobserve a decay that is suppressed or enhanced as compared to the unperturbed\nsystem.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0104035",
"authors": [
"M. C. Fischer",
"B. Gutierrez-Medina",
"M. G. Raizen"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.040402",
"title": "Observation of the Quantum Zeno and Anti-Zeno effects in an unstable system",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0104035"
},
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