Theoretical Investigations in Nonlinear Quantum Optics, Theory of Measurement, and Pulsations of General Relativistic Models of Neutron Stars

Citation

Schumaker, Bonny Laura (1985) Theoretical Investigations in Nonlinear Quantum Optics, Theory of Measurement, and Pulsations of General Relativistic Models of Neutron Stars. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/fwvz-7t26. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:09062017-132307035

Abstract

This thesis is a collection of six papers. The first four constitute the heart of the thesis; they are concerned with quantum mechanical properties of certain harmonic-oscillator states. The first paper is a discourse on single-mode and two-mode Gaussian pure states (GPS), states produced when harmonic oscillators in their ground states are exposed to potentials that are linear or quadratic in oscillator position and moment um variables (creation and annihilation operators). The second and third papers develop a formalism for analyzing two-photon devices (e.g., parametric amplifiers and phase-conjugate mirrors), in which photons in the ouput modes arise from two-photon transitions, i.e., are created or destroyed two at a time. The states produced by such devices are single-mode and two-mode "squeezed states", special kinds of GPS whose low-noise properties make them attractive for applications in such fields as optical communications and gravitational wave detection. The fourth paper is an analysis of the noise in homodyne detection, a phase-sensitive detection scheme in which the special properties of (single-mode) squeezed states are revealed as an improved signal-to-noise ratio relative to that obtained with coherent states (the states produced, e.g., by a laser).

The fifth and sixth papers deal with problems of a different nature from that of the previous papers. The fifth paper considers the validity of the "standard quantum limit" (SQL) for measurements which monitor the posi­tion of a free mass. It shows specifically that when the pre-measurement wave functions of the free mass and the measuring apparatus(es) are Gaus­sian (in the general sense, which includes so-called "contractive states"), measurements described by linear couplings to the position or to both the position and momentum are limited by the SQL. The sixth paper develops the mathematical theory of torsional (toroidal) oscillations in fully general relativistic, nonrotating, spherical stellar models, and of the gravitational waves they emit.

Thesis Files