Colloquium : Understanding quantum weak values: Basics and applications

By Justin Dressel, Mehul Malik, F. Miatto, A. Jordan, R. W. Boyd. 2013

552 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USAand Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada(published 28 March 2014)Since its introduction 25 years ago, the quantum weak value has gradually transitioned from atheoretical curiosity to a practical laboratory tool. While its utility is apparent in the recent explosionof weak value experiments, its interpretation has historically been a subject of confusion. Here apragmaticintroductiontotheweakvalueintermsofmeasurablequantitiesispresented,alongwithanexplanation for how it can be determined in the laboratory. Further, its application to three distinctexperimental techniques is reviewed. First, as a large interaction parameter it can amplify smallsignals above technical background noise. Second, as a measurable complex value it enables noveltechniques for direct quantum state and geometric phase determination. Third, as a conditionedaverage of generalized observable eigenvalues it provides a measurable window into nonclassicalfeaturesofquantummechanics.Inthisselectivereview,asingleexperimentalconfigurationtodiscussand clarify each of these applications is used.

Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9228919ca86e810c584d84c5289bc2678ed7676a