Weak-value amplification of photon-number operators in the optomechanical interaction

Abstract

An experimental proposal is presented in which dark port postselection together with weak measurements are used to enlarge the radiation pressure effect of a single photon on a mechanical oscillator placed in the middle of a Fabry-Perot cavity and initialized in the ground state. By preparing and postselecting the photon (the system) in two quasiorthogonal states, the weak value of the radiation force operator can lie outside the eigenvalue spectrum, producing a large shift on the wave function of the mechanical oscillator (the measuring device) in the position representation. Consequently, the effect of a single photon on the average position of the oscillator can be amplified as compared to the effect caused by a photon without postselection, i.e., only preselected. The strong measurement scenario is also analyzed. In this case, a higher amplification effect is achieved and the mean position of the oscillator can reach the level of the zero-point fluctuations, but the postselection probabilities are smaller. Finally, the situation in which the oscillator starts in a thermal equilibrium state is studied. In this case, the amplification of the average position remains the same, i.e., proportional to the weak value, but the signal-to-noise ratio is reduced by a factor that depends on the average number of thermal phonons.

An experimental proposal is presented in which dark port postselection together with weak measurements are used to enlarge the radiation pressure effect of a single photon on a mechanical oscillator placed in the middle of a Fabry-Perot cavity and initialized in the ground state. By preparing and postselecting the photon (the system) in two quasiorthogonal states, the weak value of the radiation force operator can lie outside the eigenvalue spectrum, producing a large shift on the wave function of the mechanical oscillator (the measuring device) in the position representation. Consequently, the effect of a single photon on the average position of the oscillator can be amplified as compared to the effect caused by a photon without postselection, i.e., only preselected. The strong measurement scenario is also analyzed. In this case, a higher amplification effect is achieved and the mean position of the oscillator can reach the level of the zero-point fluctuations, but the postselection probabilities are smaller. Finally, the situation in which the oscillator starts in a thermal equilibrium state is studied. In this case, the amplification of the average position remains the same, i.e., proportional to the weak value, but the signal-to-noise ratio is reduced by a factor that depends on the average number of thermal phonons.