Fock-state view of weak-value measurements and implementation with photons and atomic ensembles

TL;DR

This paper provides a Fock-state perspective on weak-value measurements, clarifies their transition to standard interferometry, and proposes implementations using photons and atomic ensembles for quantum measurement enhancement.

Contribution

It introduces a Fock-state framework for understanding weak-value measurements and details a method to implement these measurements with photons and atomic ensembles.

Findings

Fock-state view clarifies the weak-value amplification effect.

Transition from weak-value regime to dark-port interferometry explained.

Proposed quantum implementations with photons and atomic ensembles.

Abstract

Weak measurements in combination with post-selection can give rise to a striking amplification effect (related to a large "weak value"). We show that this effect can be understood by viewing the initial state of the pointer as the ground state of a fictional harmonic oscillator, helping us to clarify the transition from the weak-value regime to conventional dark-port interferometry. We then describe how to implement fully quantum weak-value measurements combining photons and atomic ensembles.