First direct test of quantum commutation rules

image089

scheme_comm

Arbitrary superpositions of quantum operators demonstrated: first direct quantitative test of quantum commutation rules. We designed a scheme for conditionally generating arbitrary coherent superpositions of quantum operators. The general scheme was later applied to an experiment for implementing the commutator of the creation and annihilation operators. We quantitatively verified the well-known commutation rules in a direct experiment for the first time.