Topics in Quantum Measurement and Quantum Noise

TL;DR

This thesis explores the dynamics of quantum systems under continuous observation, deriving explicit evolution operators, analyzing quantum noise spectra, and proposing methods for quantum state reconstruction from measurement data.

Contribution

It introduces explicit methods for deriving evolution operators for linear quantum trajectories and presents a scheme for quantum state reconstruction from photon statistics.

Findings

Derived explicit evolution operators for linear quantum trajectories.

Analyzed noise spectra from continuous position measurements of a moving mirror.

Proposed a scheme for quantum state reconstruction using photon statistics.

Abstract

In this thesis we consider primarily the dynamics of quantum systems subjected to continuous observation. In the Schr\"{o}dinger picture the evolution of a continuously monitored quantum system, referred to as a `quantum trajectory', may be described by a stochastic equation for the state vector. We present a method of deriving explicit evolution operators for linear quantum trajectories, and apply this to a number of physical examples of varying mathematical complexity. In the Heisenberg picture evolution resulting from continuous observation may be described by quantum Langevin equations. We use this method to examine the noise spectrum that results from a continuous observation of the position of a moving mirror, and examine the possibility of detecting the noise resulting from the quantum back-action of the measurement. In addition to the work on continuous measurement theory, we also consider the problem of reconstructing the state of a quantum system from a set of measurements. We present a scheme for determining the state of a single cavity mode from the photon statistics measured both before and after an interaction with one or two two-level atoms.