Quantum polarization characterization and tomography
arXiv:1210.1680 · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/14/11/115014
Abstract
We present a complete polarization characterization of any quantum state of two orthogonal polarization modes, and give a systematic measurement procedure to collect the necessary data. Full characterization requires measurements of the photon number in both modes and linear optics. In the situation where only the photon-number difference can be determined, a limited but useful characterization is obtained. The characteristic Stokes moment profiles are given for several common quantum states.
18 pages, 1 eps-color figures. To be published in New Journal of Physics (Focus Issue on Quantum Tomography)