Hindered decay: Quantum Zeno effect through electromagnetic field domination
Open Access
- 1 July 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review A
- Vol. 56 (1) , 25-32
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.56.25
Abstract
The lifetime of an unstable atom can be extended by watching it closely, i.e., illuminating it with an intense electromagnetic field of appropriate frequency. This is an example of “dominated evolution” and is closely related to the so-called “quantum Zeno effect.” For a metastable atom bathed in a laser beam at the frequency of another of its transitions, we obtain an expression for the modified lifetime as a function of beam intensity. This provides an example of the quantum Zeno effect on a truly decaying system, and also should be useful for probing short distance features of atomic wave functions.Keywords
This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Understanding the quantum Zeno effectPhysics Letters A, 1996
- Quantum Zeno effect in a double-well potential: A model of a physical measurementPhysical Review A, 1994
- Possible observation of the quantum Zeno effect by means of neutron spin-flippingPhysics Letters A, 1992
- A critical re-examination of the quantum Zeno paradoxJournal of Physics A: General Physics, 1992
- Quantum zeno effectPhysics Letters A, 1990
- Incomplete ‘‘collapse’’ and partial quantum Zeno effectPhysical Review A, 1990
- Quantum Zeno effectPhysical Review A, 1990
- What are Quantum Jumps?Physica Scripta, 1988
- Zeno paradox in quantum theoryAmerican Journal of Physics, 1980
- On the quantum foundations of the exponential decay lawIl Nuovo Cimento A (1971-1996), 1973