Quantum collapse and revival in the motion of a single trapped ion

Within certain limits, the dynamics of a single trapped ion oscillating about the node of a standing-wave light field is described by the Jaynes-Cummings model, which is routinely used for cavity-QED experiments. We propose a technique to measure quantum collapse and revival in the population inversion of a single trapped ion, and show that this method is uniquely suited for the measurement of final temperatures of the trapped ion as well as for the analysis of nonclassical states of the ion motion, such as Fock and squeezed states. The results are discussed with particular consideration given to the effects of a finite laser bandwidth.