Obtaining a Single-Photon Weak Value from Experiments using a Strong (Many-Photon) Coherent State

Abstract

A common type of weak-value experiment prepares a single particle in one state, weakly measures the occupation number of another state, and post-selects on finding the particle in a third state (a 'click'). Most weak-value experiments have been done with photons, but the heralded preparation of a single photon is difficult and slow of rate. Here we show that the weak value mentioned above can be measured using strong (many-photon) coherent states, while still needing only a 'click' detector such as an avalanche photodiode. One simply subtracts the no-click weak value from the click weak-value, and scales the answer by a simple function of the click probability.

This paper has been submitted to the Jonathan P. Dowling Memorial Special Issue of AVS QUANTUM SCIENCE (https://publishing.aip.org/publications/journals/special-topics/aqs/), and begins in a suitably reverent manner

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Dimension-independent weak value estimation via controlled SWAP operations
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