Magnetic Tomography of a Cavity State

Abstract
A method to determine the state of a single quantized cavity mode is proposed. By adiabatic passage, the quantum state of the field is transferred completely onto an internal Zeeman submanifold of an atom. Utilizing a method of Newton and Young [Ann. Phys. 49, 393 (1968)], we can determine this angular momentum state uniquely, by a finite number of magnetic dipole measurements with Stern-Gerlach analyzers. An example illustrates the influence of dissipation.