Direct Measurement of Time-Frequency Analogues of Sub-Planck Structures

Abstract

Exploiting the correspondence between Wigner distribution function and a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurement, we experimentally demonstrate existence of the chessboard-like interference patterns with a time-bandwidth product smaller than that of a transform-limited pulse in the phase space representation of compass states. Using superpositions of four electric pulses as realization of compass states, we have shown via direct measurements that displacements leading to orthogonal states can be smaller than limits set by uncertainty relations. In the experiment we observe an exactly chronocyclic correspondence to the sub-Planck structure in the interference pattern appearing for superposition of two Sch\"{o}dinger-cat-like states in a position-momentum phase space.