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Updated: May 14, 2026

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
Published on: May 30, 2014
Sequential measurement of conjugate variables as an alternative quantum state tomography
1Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 38400-902 Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Abstract:
It is shown how it is possible to reconstruct the initial state of a one-dimensional system by sequentially measuring two conjugate variables. The procedure relies on the quasicharacteristic function, the Fourier transform of the Wigner quasiprobability. The proper characteristic function obtained by Fourier transforming the experimentally accessible joint probability of observing "position" then "momentum" (or vice versa) can be expressed as a product of the quasicharacteristic function of the two detectors and that unknown of the quantum system. This allows state reconstruction through the sequence (1) data collection, (2) Fourier transform, (3) algebraic operation, and (4) inverse Fourier transform. The strength of the measurement should be intermediate for the procedure to work.
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