dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaFrequent observations accelerate decay: The anti-Zeno effect
| Authors | A. G. Kofman, G. Kurizki |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0102002 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0102002 |
| DOI | 10.1515/zna-2001-0113 |
| Journal | Z. Naturforsch. A 56, 83-90 (2001) |
Abstract
The quantum Zeno effect (QZE) is the striking prediction that the decay of any unstable quantum state can be inhibited by sufficiently frequent observations (measurements). The consensus opinion has upheld the QZE as a general feature of quantum mechanics, which should lead to the inhibition of any decay. The claim of QZE generality hinges on the assumption that successive observations can in principle be made at time intervals too short for the system to change appreciably. However, this assumption and the generality of the QZE have scarcely been investigated thus far. We have addressed these issues by showing that (i) the QZE is principally unattainable in radiative or radioactive decay, because the required measurement rates would cause the system to disintegrate; (ii) decay acceleration by frequent measurements (the anti-Zeno effect -- AZE) is much more ubiquitous than its inhibition. The AZE is shown to be observable as the enhancement of tunneling rates (e.g., for atoms trapped in ramped-up potentials or in current-swept Josephson junctions), fluorescence rates (e.g., for Rydberg atoms perturbed by noisy optical fields) and photon depolarization rates (in randomly modulated Pockels cells).
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"abstract": "The quantum Zeno effect (QZE) is the striking prediction that the decay of\nany unstable quantum state can be inhibited by sufficiently frequent\nobservations (measurements). The consensus opinion has upheld the QZE as a\ngeneral feature of quantum mechanics, which should lead to the inhibition of\nany decay. The claim of QZE generality hinges on the assumption that successive\nobservations can in principle be made at time intervals too short for the\nsystem to change appreciably. However, this assumption and the generality of\nthe QZE have scarcely been investigated thus far. We have addressed these\nissues by showing that (i) the QZE is principally unattainable in radiative or\nradioactive decay, because the required measurement rates would cause the\nsystem to disintegrate; (ii) decay acceleration by frequent measurements (the\nanti-Zeno effect -- AZE) is much more ubiquitous than its inhibition. The AZE\nis shown to be observable as the enhancement of tunneling rates (e.g., for\natoms trapped in ramped-up potentials or in current-swept Josephson junctions),\nfluorescence rates (e.g., for Rydberg atoms perturbed by noisy optical fields)\nand photon depolarization rates (in randomly modulated Pockels cells).",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0102002",
"authors": [
"A. G. Kofman",
"G. Kurizki"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1515/zna-2001-0113",
"journal_ref": "Z. Naturforsch. A 56, 83-90 (2001)",
"title": "Frequent observations accelerate decay: The anti-Zeno effect",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0102002"
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