Counterfactual Ghost Imaging

Abstract

We give a protocol for ghost imaging in a way that is always counterfactual - while imaging an object, no light interacts with that object. This extends the idea of counterfactuality beyond communication, showing how this interesting phenomenon can be leveraged for metrology. Given, in the infinite limit, no photons ever go to the imaged object, it presents a method of imaging even the most light-sensitive of objects without damaging them. Even when not in the infinite limit, it still provides a many-fold improvement in visibility and signal-to-noise ratio over previous protocols, with over an order of magnitude reduction in absorbed intensity.

arXiv comment7 pages, 6 figures, matches published version

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• Deterministic Teleportation and Universal Computation Without Particle Exchange
• Method to deterministically generate large-amplitude optical cat states
• Direct counterfactual quantum communication protocol beyond single photon source
• Interaction-free imaging of multi-pixel objects
• Coherent interaction-free detection of microwave pulses with a superconducting circuit
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• Is the dynamical quantum Cheshire cat detectable?
• Reply to "Counterfactual communication not achieved yet -- A Comment on Salih et al. (2022)"
• Quantum counterfactuality with identical particles
• Theory of coherent interaction-free detection of pulses
• Interaction-free measurement of multiple objects using a universal integrated photonic processor
• The Quantum Eraser Paradox