What meter interference can tell us about the statistics of weak measurements

Abstract:It is widely assumed that the quantum fluctuations of the meter readout in a weak measurement make it impossible to identify the contributions originating from the individual values of the physical property observed in the measurement. Here, we show that a careful analysis of the quantum dynamics of the meter system allows us to identify a universal relation between quantum interference in the post-selection probability, and quantum interference in the statistics of the meter readout. The analysis reveals that quantum interference modifies the readout distribution of the meter in two ways, a diffusion term that identifies the appropriate operator ordering in the post-selected variance of the observed system property, and a wavefunction-dependent update of the initial meter statistics based on the effect of back action on the post-selection probability. Our results show that the statistical patterns described by meter interference provide important details about the physics of post-selection in weak measurements, allowing us to exclude the possibility of statistical artefacts in the experimental observation of weak values.

arXiv:2608.05494 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2608.05494v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.05494 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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