Multiple pulse excitation of a designed Rydberg wave packet and noninterferometric quantum measurement

Summary form only given. Design and excitation of novel quantum states and the measurement of those states is driven by both fundamental and technological goals. For example, the study of Schrodinger cat states touches upon the basic measurement hypotheses of quantum mechanics while the establishment of particular coherent superposition states is the starting point for the process of coherent control or for quantum information applications. The goals of the design research range from the manipulation of reaction pathways to the creation of novel states for the exploration of aspects of measurement theory. In addition to its fundamental interest the accurate measurement of both amplitude and phase of a wave function plays a key roles in the area of coherent control. The seminal work by Risken and Vogel (1989) reopened the modern discussion of the reconstruction problem that was first broached by Pauli. Since their work, reconstruction techniques have been developed for a variety of systems including the optical field in atomic systems. The measurement scheme used in the paper employs a noninterferometric technique. The subject of the measurement is a designed Rydberg wave packet in an atomic system. However, the noninterferometric character of the technique suggests that this technique may have wide applicability.