{
  "id": "2003.04683",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2020-03-10T13:15:19.000Z",
  "updated": "2020-03-10T13:15:19.000Z",
  "title": "To Measure, or Not to Measure, That is the Question",
  "authors": [
    "Juzar Thingna",
    "Peter Talkner"
  ],
  "comment": "11 pages, 7 figures, comments are welcome",
  "categories": [
    "cond-mat.stat-mech",
    "cond-mat.mes-hall",
    "quant-ph"
  ],
  "abstract": "A method is proposed that allows one to infer the sum of the values of an observable taken during contacts with a pointer state. Hereby the state of the pointer is updated while contacted with the system and remains unchanged between contacts while the system evolves in time. After a prescribed number of such contacts the position of the pointer is determined by means of a projective measurement. The outcome is specified in terms of a probability distribution function for unitary and Markovian dissipative dynamics and compared with the results of the same number of generalized Gaussian measurements of the considered observable. As a particular example a qubit is considered with an observable contacting to the pointer that does not commute with the system Hamiltonian.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2020-03-10T13:15:19.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "probability distribution function",
      "system hamiltonian",
      "pointer state",
      "generalized gaussian measurements",
      "markovian dissipative dynamics"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 11,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}