Rabi Oscillations Revival Induced by Time Reversal: A Test of Mesoscopic Quantum Coherence
Tristan Meunier, S. Gleyzes, Paolo Maioli, Alexia Auffèves, Gilles Nogues, M. Brune, J. M. Raimond, S. Haroche · Physical Review Letters · 2005
Using an echo technique proposed by Morigi et al., we have time-reversed the atom-field interaction in a cavity quantum electrodynamics experiment. The collapse of the atomic Rabi oscillation in a coherent field is reversed, resulting in an induced revival signal. The amplitude of this "echo" is sensitive to nonunitary decoherence processes. Its observation demonstrates the existence of a mesoscopic quantum superposition of field states in the cavity between the collapse and the revival times.