Introduction to quantum noise, measurement, and amplification

Abstract

The topic of quantum noise has become extremely timely due to the rise of quantum information physics and the resulting interchange of ideas between the condensed matter and atomic, molecular, optical–quantum optics communities. This review gives a pedagogical introduction to the physics of quantum noise and its connections to quantum measurement and quantum amplification. After introducing quantum noise spectra and methods for their detection, the basics of weak continuous measurements are described. Particular attention is given to the treatment of the standard quantum limit on linear amplifiers and position detectors within a general linear-response framework. This approach is shown how it relates to the standard Haus-Caves quantum limit for a bosonic amplifier known in quantum optics and its application to the case of electrical circuits is illustrated, including mesoscopic detectors and resonant cavity detectors.