Experimental Test of Error-Disturbance Uncertainty Relations by Weak Measurement

TL;DR

This paper experimentally tests various error-disturbance uncertainty relations in quantum measurements of a photon polarization qubit, demonstrating violations of Heisenberg's relation but confirming Ozawa's and Branciard's relations.

Contribution

The study provides the first experimental verification of the validity of Ozawa's and Branciard's EDRs across different measurement strengths using weak measurement techniques.

Findings

Heisenberg's EDR is violated in the experiment.

Ozawa's and Branciard's EDRs hold true across all measurement strengths.

Weak measurement preserves the initial quantum state effectively.

Abstract

We experimentally test the error-disturbance uncertainty relation (EDR) in generalized, strength-variable measurement of a single photon polarization qubit, making use of weak measurement that keeps the initial signal state practically unchanged. We demonstrate that Heisenberg's EDR is violated, yet Ozawa's and Branciard's EDRs are valid throughout the range of our measurement strength.