Continuous quantum measurement for general Gaussian unravelings can exist
quant-ph
/ Authors
/ Abstract
Quantum measurements and the associated state changes are properly described in the language of instruments. We investigate the properties of a time continuous family of instruments associated with the recently introduced family of general Gaussian non-Markovian stochastic Schrödinger equations. In this Letter we find that when the covariance matrix for the Gaussian noise satisfies a particular $δ$-function constraint, the measurement interpretation is possible for a class of models with self-adjoint coupling operator. This class contains, for example the spin-boson and quantum Brownian motion models with colored bath correlation functions. Remarkably, due to quantum memory effects the reduced state, in general, does not have a closed form master equation while the unraveling has a time continuous measurement interpretation.