Quantum Zeno effect in optical fibers

The quantum Zeno effect is a paradoxical phenomenon where the inhibition of transition or the guidance of system is realized with no losses in spite o f the use of dissipative processes. It is universal and not limited to quan tum systems. In this paper as a classical example we report the quantum Zen o effect in optical fibers. The fibers are spliced with transverse offset a t fiber joints, and incident light transmits in the series of fibers. There are two kinds of light propagation modes in optical fibers - wave and ray modes. We find that the quantum Zeno effect appears only in the former mode and light is guided without power losses in the limit of the number of fib er joints N --> infinity despite of the discontinuity at joints. (C) 2001 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.