Generalizing Elitzur-Vaidman interaction free measurements

Abstract

In the early 1990's A. Elitzur and L. Vaidman proposed an interaction free measurement (IFM) that allows researchers to find infinitely fragile objects without destroying them. But Elitzur-Vaidman IFM has been used only to determine the position of opaque objects. In this paper, we propose an extension of such a technique that allows measurement of classical electric and magnetic fields. Our main goal is to offer a framework for future investigations about the role of the measurement processes, expanding the physical properties that are measurable by means of IFM.