STATE PREPARATION VIA QUANTUM COHERENCE AND CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT

The theory of continuous measurement is generalized so as to be applicable to a two-mode radiation field whose properties are monitored by using a LAMBDA system with initial coherence between two ground states. The two-mode system is shown to offer the possibility of generating a number of new quantum states. Quantum statistics of the field following continuous measurements is calculated. Results for the phase distribution, quasiprobability distribution, and the photon-number distribution of the resulting field are also presented.