Mainz 2017 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 4: Quantum Optics I
Q 4.3: Talk
Monday, March 6, 2017, 15:15–15:30, P 5
Experimental Demonstration of Negative-Valued Polarization Quasi-Probability Distribution — •Kirill Spasibko1,2, Maria Chekhova2,3,1, and Farid Khalili3 — 1Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstr. 7/B2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany — 2Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light, Staudtstr. 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany — 3Faculty of Physics, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
The polarization analog of the position-momentum Wigner distribution is the polarization quasi-probability distribution (PQPD) for the three non-commuting Stokes observables. This distribution fully describes the polarization properties of a quantum state and gives correct one-dimensional marginal probability distributions for all Stokes observables and their linear combinations (as the Wigner distribution for position and momentum does).
Usually the negativity of the Wigner distribution is considered as a proof of non-classicality for a quantum state. On the contrary, the PQPD demonstrates negativity for all quantum states. This feature comes from the discrete nature of the Stokes observables.
In this work [arXiv:1508.03510] we have demonstrated the experimental reconstruction of the PQPD for a linearly-polarized weak coherent state of light measured with single-photon detectors. The reconstructed distribution demonstrates well pronounced negative-valued areas. This intrinsic negativity was not observed in previous experiments, because they were performed with photon-number averaging detectors.