All-Optical Model for the Generation and the Detection of Macroscopic Quantum Coherence

We show that with a suitable modification of the model proposed by Yurke, Schleich, and Walls [Phys. Rev. A 42, 1703 (1990)] for the generation of linear superpositions of macroscopically distinct quantum states, it is possible to arrange a scheme for generating and detecting optical Schr\"odinger catlike states which is experimentally feasible with current technologies.