How to verify the form of quantum jump superoperator
Alexandre V. Dodonov, S. S. Mizrahi, V. V. Dodonov · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2007
We propose an experimental scheme to probe the form of quantum jump superoperator used in the theory of continuous photodetection in cavities. Two main steps are as follows: 1) a resonance absorption of a single photon by a Rydberg atom passing through a high-Q cavity filled in with the electromagnetic field in a thermal or coherent state with a small mean photon number, 2) a subsequent quantum nondemolition measurement of the photon statistics in the new field state arising after the photon absorption, using the interaction with Rydberg atoms in other (off-resonance) quantum states. Then comparing the probabilities of finding 0 and 1 photons in the initial and final states of the field, one can make conclusions on the form of the quantum jump superoperator.