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Serge Haroche developed experiments that probe photons stored in a cavity without immediately absorbing them. Passing chemical atoms interact with the cavity field and carry information about its photon number to an external detector.
Repeated nondestructive probes can progressively narrow the possible photon number, allowing the evolution of a measurement result to be followed. The approach separates the system carrying the stored energy from the successive particles carrying information about it, enabling experimental studies of quantum measurement and the quantum-to-classical transition.[ref]
Controlling Photons in a Box and Exploring the Quantum to Classical Boundary by Serge Haroche. Nobel lecture: cavity storage, atomic probes and nondestructive field measurements
Portrait of Serge Haroche
. Bengt Nyman. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source.