We suggest scattering experiments which implement the concept of ``protective measurements'' allowing the measurement of the complete wave function even when only one quantum system (rather than an ensemble) is available. Such scattering experiments require massive, slow, projectiles with kinetic energies lower than the first excitation of the system in question. The results of such experiments can have a (probabilistic) distribution (as is the case when the Born approximation for the scattering is valid) or be deterministic (in a semi-classical limit).
It is argued that the strong coupling version of recent experiment [Denkmayr et al., PRL 118, 010402 (2017)] while correctly estimating the pre-selected states of the neutrons does not perform strong measurements of weak values as claimed.
A novel method was recently proposed and experimentally realized for characterizing a quantum state by directly measuring its complex probability amplitudes in a particular basis using so-called weak values. Recently Vallone and Dequal showed theoretically that weak measurements are not a necessary condition to determine the weak value [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 040502 (2016)]. Here we report a measurement scheme used in a matter-wave interferometric experiment in which the neutron path system's quantum state was characterized via direct measurements using both strong and weak interactions. Experi…
We propose a new method to directly measure a general multi-particle quantum wave function, a single matrix element in a multi-particle density matrix, by quantum teleportation. The density matrix element is embedded in a virtual logical qubit and is nondestructively teleported to a single physical qubit for readout. We experimentally implement this method to directly measure the wavefunction of a photonic mixed quantum state beyond a single photon using a single observable for the first time. Our method also provides an exponential advantage over the standard quantum state tomography in measu…
Temporal-spectral modes of light provide a fundamental window into the nature of atomic and molecular systems and offer robust means for information encoding. Methods to precisely characterize the temporal-spectral state of light at the single-photon level thus play a central role in understanding quantum emitters and are a key requirement for quantum technologies that harness single-photon states. Here we demonstrate an optical reference-free method, which melds techniques from ultrafast metrology and single-photon spectral detection, to characterize the temporal-spectral state of single phot…
From the analysis of the measurement process we make the hypothesis that we have to add to the quantum state psi a label z and a special function alpha in order to describe completely the preparation of a (pure) quantum system . Given such a terne every observable A receives a univocal value . Therefore all physical quantities of the system are well defined independently from the measuring process. Making the unknown parameter z to vary in its space we get the probabilities prescribed by quantum mechanics.We show also that every evolution of quantum states can be extended to an evolution of th…
We have implemented the six series of three commuting measurement of the Mermin-Peres magic square on an online, five qubit, quantum computer. The magic square tests if the measurements of the system can be described by physical realism (in the EPR sense) and simultaneously are non-contextual. We find that our measurement results violate any realistic and non-contextual model by almost 28 standard deviations. We also find that although the quantum computer we used for the measurements leaves much to be desired in producing accurate and reproducible results, the simplicity, the ease of re-runni…
Without access to the full quantum state, modeling dissipation in an open system requires approximations. The physical soundness of such approximations relies on using realistic microscopic models of dissipation that satisfy completely positive dynamical maps. Here we present an approach based on the use of the Bohmian conditional wave function that, by construction, ensures a completely positive dynamical map for either Markovian or non-Markovian scenarios, while allowing the implementation of realistic dissipation sources. Our approach is applied to compute the current-voltage characteristic…
Quantum complementarity states that particles, e.g. electrons, can exhibit wave-like properties such as diffraction and interference upon propagation. \textit{Electron waves} defined by a helical wavefront are referred to as twisted electrons~\cite{uchida:10,verbeeck:10,mcmorran:11}. These electrons are also characterised by a quantized and unbounded magnetic dipole moment parallel to their propagation direction, as they possess a net charge of $-|e|$~\cite{bliokh:07}. When interacting with magnetic materials, the wavefunctions of twisted electrons are inherently modified~\cite{lloyd:12b,schat…
We present a method to measure the von Neumann entanglement entropy of ground states of quantum many-body systems which does not require access to the system wave function. The technique is based on a direct thermodynamic study of entanglement Hamiltonians, whose functional form is available from field theoretical insights. The method is applicable to classical simulations such as quantum Monte Carlo methods, and to experiments that allow for thermodynamic measurements such as the density of states, accessible via quantum quenches. We benchmark our technique on critical quantum spin chains, an…
We revisit Mandel's notion that the degree of coherence equals the degree of indistinguishability by performing Hong-Ou-Mandel- (HOM-)type interferometry with single photons elastically scattered by a cw resonantly driven excitonic transition of an InAs/GaAs epitaxial quantum dot. We present a comprehensive study of the temporal profile of the photon coalescence phenomenon which shows that photon indistinguishability can be tuned by the excitation laser source, in the same way as their coherence time. A new figure of merit, the coalescence time window, is introduced to quantify the delay below…
We have been investigating the difficulties that students in upper-level undergraduate courses have in determining the probability distribution for measuring energy and position as a function of time when the initial wave function is explicitly given. We administered written free-response and multiple-choice questions to investigate these difficulties. We find that students have common difficulties with these concepts. We discuss some of the findings.
Testable predictions of quantum mechanics are invariant under time reversal. But the change of the quantum state in time is not so, neither in the collapse nor in the no-collapse interpretations of the theory. This fact challenges the realistic interpretation of the quantum state. On the other hand, this fact follows easily if we interpret the quantum state as a mere calculation device, bookkeeping past real quantum events. The same conclusion follows from the analysis of the meaning of the wave function in the semiclassical regime.
There is an enormous amount of information that can be extracted from the data of a quantum gas microscope that has yet to be fully explored. The quantum gas microscope has been used to directly measure magnetic order, dynamic correlations, Pauli blocking, and many other physical phenomena in several recent groundbreaking experiments. However, the analysis of the data from a quantum gas microscope can be pushed much further, and when used in conjunction with theoretical constructs it is possible to measure virtually any observable of interest in a wide range of systems. We focus on how to meas…
