2004/06/04 by Chr. Balzer, Th. Hannemann, D. Reiß +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/s0030-4018(02)01859-x
published as Optics Communications Vol. 211, 235-241 (2002) · 7 pages
arxiv created 2004/06/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The driven evolution of the spin of an individual atomic ion on the ground-state hyperfine resonance is impeded by the observation of the ion in one of the pertaining eigenstates. Detection of resonantly scattered light identifies the ion in its upper ``bright'' state. The lower ``dark'' ion state is free of relaxation and correlated with the detector by a null signal. Null events represent the straightforward demonstration of the quantum Zeno paradox. Also, high probability of survival was demonstrated when the ion, driven by a fractionated π pulse, was probed \em and monitored during the intermissions of the drive, such that the ion's evolution is completely documented.