Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom

The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom

Shortly after de Broglie published his ideas that the electron in a hydrogen atom could be better thought of as being a circular standing wave instead of a particle moving in quantized circular orbits, Erwin Schrödinger extended de Broglie’s work by deriving what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. When Schrödinger applied his equation to hydrogen-like atoms, he was able to reproduce Bohr’s expression for the energy and, thus, the Rydberg formula governing hydrogen spectra. Schrödinger...

The de Broglie Wavelength

The de Broglie Wavelength

In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...

The Uncertainty Principle

The Uncertainty Principle

Werner Heisenberg considered the limits of how accurately one can measure properties of an electron or other microscopic particles. He determined that there is a fundamental limit to how accurately one can measure both a particle’s position and its momentum simultaneously. The more accurate the measurement of the momentum of a particle is known, the less accurate the position at that time is known and vice versa. This is what is now called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. He mathematically...

Graphing the Wave Function

Graphing the Wave Function

Consider the wave equation for a sinusoidal wave moving in the positive x-direction. The wave equation is a function of both position and time. From the wave equation, two different graphs can be plotted.

Emission Spectra

Emission Spectra

When solids, liquids, or condensed gases are heated sufficiently, they radiate some of the excess energy as light. Photons produced in this manner have a range of energies, and thereby produce a continuous spectrum in which an unbroken series of wavelengths is present.

Quantum Numbers

Quantum Numbers

It is said that the energy of an electron in an atom is quantized; that is, it can be equal only to certain specific values and can jump from one energy level to another but not transition smoothly or stay between these levels.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Experimental demonstration of high space compression by optical spaceplates.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Experimental demonstration of a multi-particle collective measurement for optimal quantum state estimation.

Optics express·2026

Same author

Enhancing Interferometry Using Weak Value Amplification with Real Weak Values.

Physical review letters·2025

Same author

TDP43 autoregulation gives rise to dominant negative isoforms that are tightly controlled by transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms.

Cell reports·2025

Same author

TDP43 autoregulation gives rise to shortened isoforms that are tightly controlled by both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024

Same author

The influence of water content on the longitudinal modulus of elasticity of maize stalk pith and rind tissues.

Plant methods·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source

Published on: April 4, 2017

Direct measurement of the quantum wavefunction.

Jeff S Lundeen¹, Brandon Sutherland, Aabid Patel

¹Institute for National Measurement Standards, National Research Council, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Canada. jeff.lundeen@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

|June 10, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Physicists can now directly measure the quantum wavefunction using sequential weak measurements. This breakthrough provides a clear experimental definition for the wavefunction, applicable across various quantum systems.

More Related Videos

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Published on: June 8, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source

Published on: April 4, 2017

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators

Published on: May 30, 2014

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Published on: June 8, 2018

Area of Science:

Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Information Science

Background:

The quantum wavefunction, essential for describing quantum systems, lacks a direct experimental definition.
Current methods rely on indirect tomographic techniques to estimate the wavefunction.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and demonstrate a direct measurement method for the quantum wavefunction.
To provide a straightforward, experimentally grounded definition of the wavefunction.

Main Methods:

Sequential measurement of two complementary variables.
Utilizing weak measurement for the initial measurement to preserve quantum information.
Directly obtaining real and imaginary components of the wavefunction.

Main Results:

Successfully measured the transverse spatial wavefunction of a single photon directly.
Demonstrated the universality of the method for photons (polarization, frequency) and other quantum systems (electron spins, SQUIDs, trapped ions).

Conclusions:

The proposed method offers a direct and general experimental definition of the wavefunction.
This technique is expected to enhance quantum system characterization and advance fundamental quantum theory.