Interaction-Free Measurement in mesoscopic systems and the reduction postulate

Abstract

We show that a noninvasive,``negative-result measurement'' can be realized in quantum dot systems. The measurement process is studied by applying the Schrödinger equation to the whole system (including the detector). We demonstrate that the possibility of observing a particular state out of coherent superposition leads to collapse of the corresponding nondiagonal density-matrix elements of the measured system. No additional reduction postulate is needed. Experimental consequences of the collapse time and the relativistic requirement are discussed for mesoscopic and optical systems.