Photon-number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states

H. M. Chrzanowski; J. Bernu; B. M. Sparkes; B. Hage; A. P. Lund; T. C. Ralph; P. K. Lam; T. Symul

doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.84.050302

Photon-number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states

H. M. Chrzanowski^*, J. Bernu, B. M. Sparkes, B. Hage, A. P. Lund, T. C. Ralph, P. K. Lam, T. Symul

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The nonlinearity of a conditional photon-counting measurement can be used to "de-Gaussify" a Gaussian state of light. Here we present and experimentally demonstrate a technique for photon-number resolution using only homodyne detection. We then apply this technique to inform a conditional measurement, unambiguously reconstructing the statistics of the non-Gaussian one- and two-photon-subtracted squeezed vacuum states. Although our photon-number measurement relies on ensemble averages and cannot be used to prepare non-Gaussian states of light, its high efficiency, photon-number- resolving capabilities, and compatibility with the telecommunications band make it suitable for quantum-information tasks relying on the outcomes of mean values.

Original language	English
Article number	050302
Journal	Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Volume	84
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.84.050302
Publication status	Published - 28 Nov 2011

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AU - Lund, A. P.

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AU - Lam, P. K.

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Photon-number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states

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