Weak measurements in quantum mechanics

Abstract

The article recapitulates the concept of weak measurement in its broader sense encapsulating the trade between asymptotically weak measurement precision and asymptotically large measurement statistics. Essential applications in time-continuous measurement and in postselected measurement are presented both in classical and in quantum contexts. We discuss the anomalous quantum weak value in postselected measurement. We concentrate on the general mathematical and physical aspects of weak measurements and we do not expand on their interpretation. Particular applications, even most familiar ones, are not subject of the article which was written for Elsevier's Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics.