Where does squeeze collide?

In quantum optics, a squeezed state is a state of light in which the quantum uncertainty of one observable (say one quadrature of the field) is pushed below the standard vacuum limit, at the cost of raising the uncertainty of its conjugate, so the noise is redistributed rather than removed. Walls' 1983 Squeezed states of light reviewed how such states are generated and why they matter for measurement below the shot-noise floor. The referent is a nonclassical property of an electromagnetic field, measured by the variance of a quadrature relative to vacuum, and it shares nothing with a market manoeuvre or a thin film of fluid but the word.[1]

Unit

The variance of one field quadrature relative to the vacuum (shot-noise) level

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Measured by homodyne detection of quadrature variance falling below the shot-noise limit

In financial markets, a squeeze is a dynamic in which traders who must close a position (classically short sellers forced to buy back) trade into a rising price, and that forced demand pushes the price further against them, sometimes deliberately engineered by others. Brunnermeier and Pedersen's 2005 Predatory trading modelled how large traders can exploit another's need to liquidate, the mechanism behind a short squeeze. The referent is a price-and-liquidity spiral among strategic traders, a wholly different construct from quantum noise or fluid-film mechanics.[2]

Unit

The price impact of forced, one-directional trading by constrained traders

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Studied through price impact, short-interest, and liquidity data around forced unwinding episodes

In fluid mechanics, the squeeze-film effect is the resistance a thin layer of fluid trapped between two surfaces exerts when they move toward or away from each other: the fluid must be squeezed out through a narrow gap, generating a pressure that damps and cushions the motion. Wang and colleagues' 2022 Investigation of nonlinear squeeze-film damping involving rarefied gas effect in micro-electro-mechanical systems is one modern treatment of the regime that dominates damping in small oscillating devices. The referent is a lubrication-type force set by fluid being expelled from a closing gap, and it bears no relation to a market squeeze or a squeezed quantum state.[3]

Unit

The damping force from fluid expelled as the gap between two surfaces closes

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Characterised by the squeeze-film damping coefficient and the quality factor of an oscillating gap, often via the Reynolds lubrication equation