Quantum Zeno effect in atomic spin-exchange collisions

I. K. Kominis

Published 2008-04-30, updated 2008-06-18Version 2

The suppression of spin-exchange relaxation in dense alkali-metal vapors discovered in 1973 and governing modern atomic magnetometers is here reformulated in terms of quantum measurement theory and the quantum Zeno effect. This provides a new perspective of understanding decoherence in spin-polarized atomic vapors.