
%0 Journal Article
%A Walls, DF 
%A Collett, MJ 
%A Storey, EP 
%A Tan, SM 
%T Quantum Measurements in Atomic Optics
%J Australian Journal of Physics
%D 1993/02/01
%V 46
%N 1
%P 61-76
%K 
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/PH930061
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/PH930061 
%X We consider atoms traversing a cavity filled with an optical field. When the atoms are well detuned from the optical resonance the output momentum distribution of the atoms is found to be a sensitive probe of the photon statistics of the light field. Near resonance spontaneous emission smears the diffractive peaks. We obtain a good fit to the experimental data of Gould et at. (1991). As the atoms pass through the optical field they impart a position-dependent phase shift to the field. By making a quadrature phase measurement on the optical field a position measurement of the atom is achieved. We show that it is possible to prepare the atom in a 'contractive state' which beats the standard quantum limit for position measurements. 
