We analyze the quantum Zeno dynamics that takes place when a field stored in a cavity undergoes frequent interactions with atoms. We show that repeated measurements or unitary operations performed on the atoms probing the field state confine the evolution to tailored subspaces of the total Hilbert space. This confinement leads to non-trivial field evolutions and to the generation of interesting non-classical states, including mesoscopic field state superpositions. We elucidate the main features of the quantum Zeno mechanism in the context of a state-of-the-art cavity quantum electrodynamics experiment. A plethora of effects is investigated, from state manipulations by phase space tweezers to nearly arbitrary state synthesis. We analyze in details the practical implementation of this dynamics and assess its robustness by numerical simulations including realistic experimental imperfections. We comment on the various perspectives opened by this proposal.
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