Is Wave Function Collapse Necessary? Explaining Quantum Nondemolition Measurement of a Spin Qubit within Linear Evolution

Harry E. Dyte, George Gillard, Santanu Manna, Saimon Filipe Covre da Silva, Armando Rastelli, E. A. Chekhovich

Abstract

The measurement problem dates back to the dawn of quantum mechanics. Here, we measure a quantum dot electron spin qubit through off-resonant coupling with a highly redundant ancilla, consisting of thousands of nuclear spins. Large redundancy allows for single-shot measurement with high fidelity ≈99.85%. Repeated measurements enable heralded initialization of the qubit and backaction-free detection of electron spin quantum jumps, attributed to burstlike fluctuations in a thermally populated phonon bath. Based on these results we argue that the measurement, linking quantum states to classical observables, can be made without any "wave function collapse" in agreement with the Quantum Darwinism concept.

Locations

• Physical Review Letters - View - PDF
• arXiv (Cornell University) - View - PDF
• PubMed - View