Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: We propose a quantum optical version of Schr\"odinger's famous gedanken experiment in which the state of a microscopic system (a cavity field) becomes entangled with and disentangled from the state of a massive object (a movable mirror). Despite the fact that a mixture of Schr\"odinger cat states is produced during the evolution (due to the fact that the macroscopic mirror starts off in a thermal state), this setup allows us to systematically probe the rules by which a superposition of spatially separated states of a macroscopic object decoheres. The parameter regime required to test environment-induced decoherence models is found to be close to those currently realizable, while that required to detect gravitationally induced collapse is well beyond current technology.
Source: Physical Review A
Authors: S. Bose, K. Jacobs, P. L. Knight
Institution: Imperial College London
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1998298899