Atom localization and center-of-mass wave-function determination via multiple simultaneous quadrature measurements RID A-5077-2009

Abstract

We discuss localization and center-of-mass wave-function measurement of a quantum particle using multiple simultaneous dispersive interactions of the particle with different standing-wave fields. In particular, we consider objects with an internal structure consisting of a single ground state and several excited states. The transitions between ground and the corresponding excited states are coupled to the light fields in the dispersive limit, thus giving rise to a phase shift of the light field during the interaction. We show that multiple simultaneous measurements allow both an increase in the measurement or localization precision in a single direction and the performance of multidimensional measurements or localization. Further, we show that multiple measurements may relax the experimental requirements for each individual measurement.