Decoherence dynamics of complex photon states in a superconducting circuit

Quantum states inevitably decay with time into a probabilistic mixture of classical states due to their interaction with the environment and measurement instrumentation. We present the first measurement of the decoherence dynamics of complex photon states in a condensed-matter system. By controllabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-11, Vol.103 (20), p.200404-200404, Article 200404
Main Authors: Wang, H, Hofheinz, M, Ansmann, M, Bialczak, R C, Lucero, Erik, Neeley, M, O'Connell, A D, Sank, D, Weides, M, Wenner, J, Cleland, A N, Martinis, John M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Quantum states inevitably decay with time into a probabilistic mixture of classical states due to their interaction with the environment and measurement instrumentation. We present the first measurement of the decoherence dynamics of complex photon states in a condensed-matter system. By controllably preparing a number of distinct quantum-superposed photon states in a superconducting microwave resonator, we show that the subsequent decay dynamics can be quantitatively described by taking into account only two distinct decay channels: energy relaxation and pure dephasing. Our ability to prepare specific initial quantum states allows us to measure the evolution of specific elements in the quantum density matrix in a very detailed manner that can be compared with theory.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.103.200404