Abstract
The drive for both noise-free message transmission1,2 and high precision gravity wave detection3,4 has stimulated immense effort on a key element, a squeezed state5,6 of the electromagnetic field. Such non-classical states have been investigated theoretically in great detail1–7 and have now been realized experimentally in four laboratories in the United States8–13. However, nowhere in the literature have we been able to find the striking feature of a squeezed state which we report here: an oscillatory distribution in photon number14,15. These oscillations, and the conditions which produce them, came to light in the course of an investigation of sudden transitions16 (the Franck–Condon effect in molecular physics17,18) based on the semi-classical description of a quantum state19 as motion of a representative point in the phase space defined by oscillator coordinate and oscillator momentum.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Yuen, H. P. Phys. Rev. A13, 2226–2243 (1976).
Yuen, H. P. in Quantum Optics, Experimental Gravity and Measurement Theory (eds Meystre, P. & Scully, M. O.) 249–268 (Plenum, New York, 1983).
Hollenhorst, J. N. Phys. Rev. D19, 1669–1679 (1979).
Caves, C. M. Phys. Rev. D23, 1693–1708 (1981).
Walls, D. F. Nature 304, 141–146 (1983).
Nieto, M. in Frontiers of Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics (eds Moore, G. & Scully, M. O.) 287–307 (Plenum, New York, 1986).
Stoler, D. Phys. Rev. 1D, 3217–3219 (1970); Phys. Rev. D 4 1925–1926 (1971).
Slusher, R. E., Hollberg, L. W., Yurke, B., Mertz, J. C. & Valley, J. F. Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2409–2412 (1985).
Shelby, R. M., Levenson, M. D., Perlmutter, S. H., DeVoe, R. G. & Walls, D. F. Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 691–694 (1986).
Maede, M. W., Kumar, P. & Shapiro, J. H. in Proc. of the Joint Meetings: Fourteenth International Conference on Quantum Electronics and Sixth Annual Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics San Francisco, California 9–13 June (1986) (in the press).
Wu, L.-A., Kimble, H. J., Hall, J. L. & Wu, H. Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 2520–2523 (1986).
Levi, B. G. Physics Today 39, (3), 17–19 (1986).
Robinson, A. L. Science 233, 280–281 (1986).
Wheeler, J. A. Lett. math. Phys. 10, 201–206 (1985).
Schleich, W. & Wheeler, J. A. in Proc. of the first International Conference on the Physics of Phase Space (ed. Zachary,. W. W.) (Springer, NewYork, in the press).
Bohm, D. Quantum Theory (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New York, 1951).
Condon, E. U. Am. J. Phys. 15, 365–374 (1947).
Herzberg, G. Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure, I. Spectra of Diatomic Molecules 194–204 (van Nostrand, Princeton, 1965).
Born, M. in Struktur der Materie in Einzeldarstellungen (eds Born, M. & Franck, J.) (Springer, Berlin, 1925).
Szegö, G. Orthogonal Polynomials (American Mathematical Society, New York, 1939).
Sargent, M., Scully, M. O. & Lamb, W. E. Laser Physics 242–256; 410–418 (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1974).
Wheeler, J. A. & Zurek, W. H. Quantum Theory and Measurement (Princeton University Press, 1983).
Feynman, R. P., Leighton, R. B. & Sands, M. The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. 3 (Addison-Wesley, Reading, 1964).
Debye, P. Physik. Zeitschrift 28, 170–174 (1927).
Liboff, R. L. Physics Today 37(2), 50–55 (1984).
Planck, M. Ann. Phys. 50, 385–418 (1916).
Cohen, L. & Zaparovanny, J. Math. Phys. 21, 794–796 (1980).
Cohen, L. in Frontiers of Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics (eds Moore, G. T. & Scully, M. O.) 97–117 (Plenum, New York, 1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schleich, W., Wheeler, J. Oscillations in photon distribution of squeezed states and interference in phase space. Nature 326, 574–577 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/326574a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/326574a0
