If very frequent periodic measurements ascertain whether a quantum system is still in its initial state, its evolution is hindered. This peculiar phenomenon is called quantum Zeno effect. We investigate the large-time limit of the survival probability as the total observation time scales as a power of the measurement frequency, t∝N α. The limit survival probability exhibits a sudden jump from 1 to 0 at α=1/2, the threshold between the quantum Zeno effect and a diffusive behavior. Moreover, we show that for α ≥ 1, the limit probability becomes sensitive to the spectral properties of the initial state and to the arithmetic properties of the measurement periods.

Large-time limit of the quantum Zeno effect

FACCHI, PAOLO;LIGABO', MARILENA
2017-01-01

Abstract

If very frequent periodic measurements ascertain whether a quantum system is still in its initial state, its evolution is hindered. This peculiar phenomenon is called quantum Zeno effect. We investigate the large-time limit of the survival probability as the total observation time scales as a power of the measurement frequency, t∝N α. The limit survival probability exhibits a sudden jump from 1 to 0 at α=1/2, the threshold between the quantum Zeno effect and a diffusive behavior. Moreover, we show that for α ≥ 1, the limit probability becomes sensitive to the spectral properties of the initial state and to the arithmetic properties of the measurement periods.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/184166
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 5
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 5
social impact