Quantum weak values

Pryde, G. J.; O'Brien, J. L.; White, A. G.; Ralph, T. C.; Wiseman, H. M.

Quantum weak values

Authors

Description

We experimentally determine weak values for a single photon's polarization, obtained via a weak measurement that employs a two-photon entangling operation, and postselection. The weak values cannot be explained by a semiclassical wave theory, due to the two-photon entanglement. We observe the variation in size of the weak value with measurement strength, obtaining an average measurement of the S_1 Stokes parameter more than an order of magnitude outside of the operator's spectrum for the smallest measurement strengths.
4 pages, 2 figures