Symplectic tomographic probability distribution of crystallized Schrödinger cat states

Abstract

Within the framework of the probability representation of quantum mechanics, we study a superposition of generic Gaussian states associated to symmetries of a regular polygon of n sides; in other words, the cyclic groups (containing the rotational symmetries) and dihedral groups (containing the rotational and inversion symmetries). We obtain the Wigner functions and tomographic probability distributions (symplectic and optical tomograms) determining the density matrices of the states explicitly as the sums of Gaussian terms. The obtained Wigner functions demonstrate nonclassical behavior, i.e., contain negative values, while the tomograms show a series of maxima and minima different for each state, where the number of the critical points reflects the order of the group defining the states. We discuss general properties of such a generalization of normal probability distributions.

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