Generalizing Elitzur-Vaidman interaction free measurements

Interaction-Free Measurements of Optical Semitransparent Objects

We substitute the fully absorbing obstacle in the Elitzur-Vaidman experiment by a semitransparent object and show that the probabilities of detection can be manipulated in dependence of the transparency of such an object. Then, we connect our results with the delayed choice experiment proposed by Wheeler. It is found that the transparency of the obstacle determines either a particle-like or a wave-like behaviour of a test photon.

A Transactional Analysis of Interaction Free Measurements

The transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics is applied to the "interaction-free" measurement scenario of Elitzur and Vaidman and to the Quantum Zeno Effect version of the measurement scenario by Kwiat, et al. It is shown that the non-classical information provided by the measurement scheme is supplied by the probing of the intervening object by incomplete offer and confirmation waves that do not form complete transactions or lead to real interactions.

Are Interaction-free Measurements Interaction Free?

In 1993 Elitzur and Vaidman introduced the concept of interaction-free measurements which allowed finding objects without ``touching'' them. In the proposed method, since the objects were not touched even by photons, thus, the interaction-free measurements can be called as ``seeing in the dark''. Since then several experiments have been successfully performed and various modifications were suggested. Recently, however, the validity of the term ``interaction-free'' has been questioned. The criticism of the name is briefly reviewed and the meaning of the interaction-free measurements is clarifie…

The Meaning of the Interaction-Free Measurements

Interaction-free measurements introduced by Elitzur and Vaidman [Found. Phys. 23, 987 (1993)] allow finding infinitely fragile objects without destroying them. Many experiments have been successfully performed showing that indeed, the original scheme and its modifications lead to reduction of the disturbance of the observed systems. However, there is a controversy about the validity of the term ``interaction-free'' for these experiments. Broad variety of such experiments are reviewed and the meaning of the interaction-free measurements is clarified.

An Interaction-Free Quantum Measurement-Driven Engine

Recently highly-efficient quantum engines were devised by exploiting the stochastic energy changes induced by quantum measurement. Here we show that such an engine can be based on an interaction-free measurement, in which the meter seemingly does not interact with the measured object. We use a modified version of the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb tester, an interferometric setup able to detect the presence of a bomb triggered by a single photon without exploding it. In our case, a quantum bomb subject to a gravitational force is initially in a superposition of being inside and outside one of the interf…

'Interaction-Free' Channel Discrimination

In this work, we investigate the question, which objects one can discriminate perfectly by 'interaction-free' measurements. To this end, we interpret the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-tester experiment as a quantum channel discrimination problem and generalize the notion of 'interaction-free' measurement to arbitrary quantum channels. Our main result is a necessary and sufficient criterion for when it is possible or impossible to discriminate quantum channels in an 'interaction-free' manner (i.e., such that the discrimination error probability and the 'interaction' probability can be made arbitrarily s…

反事实量子传感：无相互作用测量的能与不能

Counterfactual Quantum Sensing: What Interaction-Free Measurement Can and Cannot Buy

探讨无相互作用测量在量子传感中的作用，以信道估计问题分析埃利策尔 - 维德曼干涉仪，发现其在测透明度上无优势，优势在辨别，还研究了寄生损耗等影响，表明单个光子多次遇物体时可获取的量子费希尔信息受限，恢复相关界限。