Continuous quantum measurement of a double dot

Abstract

We consider the continuous measurement of a double quantum dot by a weakly coupled detector (tunnel point contact nearby). While the conventional approach describes the gradual system decoherence due to the measurement, we study the situation when the detector output is explicitly recorded that leads to the opposite effect: gradual purification of the double-dot density matrix. The nonlinear Langevin equation is derived for the random evolution of the density matrix which is reflected and caused by the stochastic detector output. Gradual collapse, gradual purification, and the quantum Zeno effect are naturally described by the equation. We also discuss the possible experiments to confirm the theory.