Abstract

According to the usual interpretation of quantum mechanics, measurement of an observable yields its eigenvalue. Extrapolation of classical reasoning then suggests that at every instant of time the quantum system actually is in one of the eigenstates of the observable, and as time goes on it executes random jumps between the states. In this spirit, Cook and Kimble¹ have recently elaborated Dehmelt’s suggestion² that fluorescence from a laser-driven two-level system weakly coupled to a third state may turn on and off when the atom jumps between the active two-level system and the inactive third state.

© 1986 Optical Society of America