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Number and Phase

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Quantum Measurement

Part of the book series: Theoretical and Mathematical Physics ((TMP))

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Abstract

In classical physics the phase of an electromagnetic field is well defined both theoretically and by interference experiments. Diffraction of light, holography, and many other phase dependent phenomena are well understood. As we will see in Sect. 19.3, it is also easy to describe classically eight-port homodyne detection and other direct measurements of the phase difference of signal and local strong laser beams with fixed phases. A problem arises when, for instance, the signal field in homodyne detection is so weak that one must take into account quantum effects. In this Chap. 16, we present a simple solution to the quantum phase problem in the form of covariant phase observables, and study their properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, York Centre for Quantum Technologies, University of York, York, UK

    Paul Busch

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Turku Centre for Quantum Physics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Pekka Lahti & Juha-Pekka Pellonpää

  3. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Kari Ylinen

Authors
  1. Paul Busch
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  2. Pekka Lahti
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  3. Juha-Pekka Pellonpää
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  4. Kari Ylinen
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Correspondence to Paul Busch .

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Busch, P., Lahti, P., Pellonpää, JP., Ylinen, K. (2016). Number and Phase. In: Quantum Measurement. Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43389-9_16

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