Measurement-damped oscillations

Abstract

It is suggested that a recent experiment verifying the quantum Zeno effect be extended to longer times with weakened laser pulses that make the measurements uncertain. This would show more detailed effects of changes of the atomic state made by the laser pulses. It would test the way the pulses change the density matrix when the measurements are uncertain. It is predicted that when the pulses are sufficiently weak, the transition probability will oscillate in time, as it would if there were no pulses, but the pulses will damp the oscillations the same way they inhibit transitions to produce the Zeno effect. The oscillations could also reveal the change of phase between the atomic states produced by the interaction with the laser beam. Transition probabilities have been calculated as functions of time. Representative results are plotted.