The canonical commutation relation is the hallmark of quantum theory and Heisenberg's uncertainty relation is a direct consequence of it. But despite its fundamental role in quantum theory, surprisingly, its genuine direct experimental test has hitherto not been performed. In this article, we present a novel scheme to directly test the canonical commutation relation between two dichotomic observables, by exploiting the notion of weak measurement. The imaginary part of a suitably formulated weak value enables this direct test. The measurement of the weak value of a path-qubit observable in a neutron interferometer experiment is used to verify the approach. The experiment is realized using a newly developed technique in our neutron interferometric setup where the neutron's spin/energy degree of freedom serves as ancilla.
The quantum weak value draws many attentions recently from theoretical curiosity to experimental applications. Now we design an unusual weak measuring procedure as the pre-selection, mid-selection and post-selection to study the correlation function of two weak values, which we called the weak correlation function. In this paper, we proposed an weak measurement experiment to measure the canonical commutator $[\hat{x},\hat{p}]=i\hbar$ in quantum mechanics. Furthurmore, we found the intriguing equivalence between the canonical commutation relation and Riemann hypothesis, and then obtained the we…
We propose and demonstrate scheme for direct experimental testing of quantum commutation relations for Pauli operators. The implemented device is an advanced quantum processor that involves two programmable quantum gates. Depending on a state of two-qubit program register, we can test either commutation or anti-commutation relations. Very good agreement between theory and experiment is observed, indicating high-quality performance of the implemented quantum processor and reliable verification of commutation relations for Pauli operators.
We propose an experiment to directly prove the commutation relation between bosonic annihilation and creation operators, based on the recent experimental success in single-photon subtraction and addition. We devise a single-photon interferometer to realize coherent superpositions of two sequences of photon addition and subtraction. Depending on the interference outcome, the commutation relation is directly proven or a highly nonclassical state is produced. Experimental imperfections are assessed to show that the realization of the scheme is highly feasible.
We present the experimental realization of a scheme, based on single-photon interference, for implementing superpositions of distinct quantum operations. Its application to a thermal light field (a well-categorized classical entity) illustrates quantum superposition from a new standpoint and provides a direct and quantitative verification of the bosonic commutation relation between creation and annihilation operators. By shifting the focus towards operator superpositions, this result opens interesting alternative perspectives for manipulating quantum states.
Experimental Demonstration of Commutation Relations Using Intensity Correlations
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg（埃尔朗根-纽伦堡大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts（马克斯·普朗克光科学研究所）；Universidad Complutense（康普卢顿塞大学）；Chapman University（查普曼大学）；University of Ottawa（渥太华大学）
Using the quantum transition path time probability distribution we show that time averaging of weak values leads to unexpected results. We prove a weak value time energy uncertainty principle and time energy commutation relation. We also find that time averaging allows one to predict in advance the momentum of a particle at a post selected point in space with accuracy greater than the limit of $\hbar /2$ as dictated by the uncertainty principle. This comes at a cost - it is not possible at the same time to predict when the particle will arrive at the post selected point. A specific example is …
Quantum symmetries that leave invariant physical transition probabilities are described by projective representations of Lie groups. The mathematical theory of projected representations for topologically connected Lie groups is reviewed and applied to the inhomogeneous symplectic group ISp(2n). The projective representations are given in terms of the ordinary unitary representations of the central extension of the group with respect to its first homotopy group direct product with its second cohomology group. The second cohomology group of ISp(2n) is the one dimensional abelian group and the ce…
Recently, weak measurements have attracted a lot of interest as an experimental method for the investigation of non-classical correlations between observables that cannot be measured jointly. Here, I explain how the complex valued statistics observed in weak measurements relate to the operator algebra of the conventional Hilbert space formalism and show that the algebra of operators originates from more fundamental relations between the physical properties of a quantum system that can be expressed in terms of complex conditional probabilities. In particular, commutation relations can be identi…
Based on the assumption that time evolves only in one direction and mechanical systems can be described by Lagrangeans, a dynamical C*-algebra is presented for non-relativistic particles at atomic scales. Without presupposing any quantization scheme, this algebra is inherently non-commutative and comprises a large set of dynamics. In contrast to other approaches, the generating elements of the algebra are not interpreted as observables, but as operations on the underlying system; they describe the impact of temporary perturbations caused by the surroundings. In accordance with the doctrine of …
This paper is concerned with multimode open quantum harmonic oscillators (OQHOs), described by linear quantum stochastic differential equations with multichannel external bosonic fields. We consider the exponentially fast decay in the two-point commutator matrix of the system variables as a manifestation of quantum decoherence. Such dissipative effects are caused by the interaction of the system with its environment and lead to a loss of specific features of the unitary evolution which the system would have in the case of isolated dynamics. These features are exploited as nonclassical resource…
This paper considers a class of open quantum systems with an algebraic structure of dynamic variables, including the Pauli matrices for finite-level systems as a particular case. The Hamiltonian and the operators of coupling of the system to the external bosonic fields depend linearly on the system variables. The fields are represented by quantum Wiener processes which drive the system dynamics in the form of a quasilinear Hudson-Parthasarathy quantum stochastic differential equation whose drift vector and dispersion matrix are affine and linear functions of the system variables. This quasilin…
We derive the commutation relations for field strengthes of the non-Abelian gauge fields by requiring that the quantum mechanical equations of motion coincide with the classical field equations. The equations of motion with respect to time derivative coincide with the corresponding field equations, while those with respect to space derivatives agree with classical field equations if constraint equations are fulfilled. Using the uncertainty relations for field strengthes at the same times, which follows from the commutation relations, we estimate the energy gap of vacuum fluctuations in the lon…
Although non-commutativity of a certain set of quantum operators (e.g., creation/annihilation operators and Pauli spin operators) has been shown experimentally in recent years, the commu- tation relation for the position and the momentum operators has not been directly demonstrated to date. In this paper, we propose and analyze an experimental scheme for directly observing the non-commutativity of the position and the momentum operators using single-photon quantum in- terference. While the scheme is studied for the single-photon state as the input quantum state, the analysis applies equally to…
A displacement operator d_ζis introduced, verifying commutation relations [d_ζ, a_f^\dagger]=[d_ζ, a_f]=ζ(f)d_ζwith field creation and annihilation operators that verify [a_f,a_g]=0, [a_f,a_g^\dagger]=(g,f), as usual. f and g are test functions, ζis a Poincare invariant real-valued function on the test function space, and (g,f) is a Poincare invariant Hermitian inner product. The *-algebra generated by all these operators, and a state defined on it, nontrivially extends the *-algebra of creation and annihilation operators and its Fock space representation. If the usual requirement for linearit…
Arbitrarily small changes in the commutation relations suffice to transform the usual singular quantum theories into regular quantum theories. This process is an extension of canonical quantization that we call general quantization. Here we apply general quantization to the time-independent linear harmonic oscillator. The unstable Heisenberg group becomes the stable group SO(3). This freezes out the zero-point energy of very soft or very hard oscillators, like those responsible for the infrared or ultraviolet divergencies of usual field theories, without much changing the medium oscillators. I…
We re-derive the Schrödinger-Robertson uncertainty principle for the position and momentum of a quantum particle. Our derivation does not directly employ commutation relations, but works by reduction to an eigenvalue problem related to the harmonic oscillator, which can then be further exploited to find a larger class of constrained uncertainty relations. We derive an uncertainty relation under the constraint of a fixed degree of Gaussianity and prove that, remarkably, it is saturated by all eigenstates of the harmonic oscillator. This goes beyond the common knowledge that the (Gaussian) groun…
We introduce a new set of noncommutative space-time commutation relations in two space dimensions. The space-space commutation relations are deformations of the standard flat noncommutative space-time relations taken here to have position dependent structure constants. Some of the new variables are non-Hermitian in the most natural choice. We construct their Hermitian counterparts by means of a Dyson map, which also serves to introduce a new metric operator. We propose PTlike symmetries, i.e.antilinear involutory maps, respected by these deformations. We compute minimal lengths and momenta ari…
One of the main challenges in physics today is to merge quantum theory and the theory of general relativity into a unified framework. Various approaches towards developing such a theory of quantum gravity are pursued, but the lack of experimental evidence of quantum gravitational effects thus far is a major hindrance. Yet, the quantization of space-time itself can have experimental implications: the existence of a minimal length scale is widely expected to result in a modification of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. Here we introduce a scheme that allows an experimental test of this conjec…
Quantum-enhanced metrology is boosting interferometer sensitivities to extraordinary levels, up to the point where table-top experiments have been proposed to measure Planck-scale effects predicted by quantum gravity theories. In setups involving multiple photon interferometers, as those for measuring the so-called holographic fluctuations, entanglement provides substantial improvements in sensitivity. Entanglement is however a fragile resource and may be endangered by decoherence phenomena. We analyze how noisy effects arising either from the weak coupling to an external environment or from t…
We discuss canonical transformations in Quantum Field Theory in the framework of the functional-integral approach. In contrast with ordinary Quantum Mechanics, canonical transformations in Quantum Field Theory are mathematically more subtle due to the existence of unitarily inequivalent representations of canonical commutation relations. When one works with functional integrals, it is not immediately clear how this algebraic feature manifests itself in the formalism. Here we attack this issue by considering the canonical transformations in the context of coherent-state functional integrals. Sp…
This paper is concerned with coherent quantum control design for translation invariant networks of identical quantum stochastic systems subjected to external quantum noise. The network is modelled as an open quantum harmonic oscillator and is governed by a set of linear quantum stochastic differential equations. The dynamic variables of this quantum plant satisfy the canonical commutation relations. Similar large-scale systems can be found, for example, in quantum metamaterials and optical lattices. The problem under consideration is to design a stabilizing decentralized coherent quantum contr…
