Summary
Rydberg atoms in superconducting cavities make it possible to test fundamental features of quantum mechanics. The non-resonant interaction of a single atom with a mesoscopic coherent field results in a quantum superposition of two fields with different classical phases. This mesoscopic quantum superposition is similar to the famous “Schrödinger cat”, suspended between life and death. By probing the field state with a second atom, we monitor the relaxation of the field quantum superposition towards a statistical mixture. The “decoherence” time decreases rapidly with the “distance” between the two field components, being instantaneous for any macroscopic object. This experiment gives first direct evidence of the process which, at the heart of the quantum measurement, bans quantum superpositions from the macroscopic world.
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Raimond, JM., Haroche, S. (1999). Atoms and Cavities: The Birth of a Schrödinger Cat of the Radiation Field. In: Asakura, T. (eds) International Trends in Optics and Photonics. Springer Series in OPTICAL SCIENCES, vol 74. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48886-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-48886-6_4
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