We obtain the standard quadrature-phase positive operator-valued measure (POVM) for homodyne detection directly and rigorously from the POVM for photon counting without directly employing the mean field approximation for the local oscillator. In addition we obtain correction terms for the quadrature-phase POVM that are applicable for relatively weak local oscillator field strengths and typical signal states.
The eight-port homodyne detection apparatus is analyzed in the framework of the operational theory of quantum measurement. For an arbitrary quantum noise leaking through the unused port of the beam splitter, the positive operator valued measure and the corresponding operational homodyne observables are derived. It is shown that such an eight-port homodyne device can be used to construct the operational quantum trigonometry of an optical field. The quantum trigonometry and the corresponding phase space Wigner functions are derived for a signal field probed by a classical local oscillator and a …
We discuss a balanced homodyne detection scheme with imperfect detectors in the framework of the operational approach to quantum measurement. We show that a realistic homodyne measurement is described by a family of operational observables that depends on the experimental setup, rather than a single field quadrature operator. We find an explicit form of this family, which fully characterizes the experimental device and is independent of a specific state of the measured system. We also derive operational homodyne observables for the setup with a random phase, which has been recently applied in …
Optical homodyne detection is examined in view of joint probability distribution. It is usually discussed that the relative phase between independent laser fields are localized by photon-number measurements in interference experiments such as homodyne detection. This provides reasoning to use operationally coherent states for laser fields in the description of homodyne detection and optical quantum-state tomography. Here, we elucidate these situations by considering the joint probability distribution and the invariance of homodyne detection under the phase transformation of optical fields.
We present the results of an operational use of experimentally measured optical tomograms to determine state characteristics (purity) avoiding any reconstruction of quasiprobabilities. We also develop a natural way how to estimate the errors (including both statistical and systematic ones) by an analysis of the experimental data themselves. Precision of the experiment can be increased by postselecting the data with minimal (systematic) errors. We demonstrate those techniques by considering coherent and photon-added coherent states measured via the time-domain improved homodyne detection. The o…
We derive a theoretical framework for the experimental certification of non-Gaussian features of quantum states using double homodyne detection. We rank experimental non-Gaussian states according to the recently defined stellar hierarchy and we propose practical Wigner negativity witnesses. We simulate various use-cases ranging from fidelity estimation to witnessing Wigner negativity. Moreover, we extend results on the robustness of the stellar hierarchy of non-Gaussian states. Our results illustrate the usefulness of double homodyne detection as a practical measurement scheme for retrieving i…
It is known that the quantum fidelity, as a measure of the closeness of two quantum states, is operationally equivalent to the minimal overlap of the probability distributions of the two states over all possible POVMs; the POVM realizing the minimum is optimal. We consider the ability of homodyne detection to distinguish two single-mode Gaussian states, and investigate to what extent it is optimal in this information-theoretic sense. We completely identify the conditions under which homodyne detection makes an optimal distinction between two single-mode Gaussian states of the same mean, and sh…
The balanced homodyne detection as a readout scheme of gravitational-wave detectors is carefully examined, which specifies the directly measured quantum operator in the detection. This specification is necessary to apply the quantum measurement theory to gravitational-wave detections. We clarify the contribution of vacuum fluctuations to the noise spectral density without using the two-photon formulation. We found that the noise spectral density in the two-photon formulation includes vacuum fluctuations from the main interferometer but does not includes those from the local oscillator which de…
Non-existence of a local hidden variables (LHV) model for a phenomenon benchmarks its use in device-independent quantum protocols. Nowadays photon-number resolving weak-field homodyne measurements allow realization of emblematic gedanken experiments. Alas, claims that we can have no LHV models for such experiments on (a) excitation of a pair of spatial modes by a single photon, and (b) two spatial modes in a weakly squeezed vacuum state, involving constant local oscillator strengths, are unfounded. For (a) an exact LHV model resolves the dispute on the "non-locality of a single photon" in its …
We quantify correlations (quantum and/or classical) between two continuous variable modes in terms of how many correlated bits can be extracted by measuring the sign of two local quadratures. On Gaussian states, such `bit quadrature correlations' majorize entanglement, reducing to an entanglement monotone for pure states. For non-Gaussian states, such as photonic Bell states, ideal and real de-Gaussified photon-subtracted states, and mixtures of pure Gaussian states, the bit correlations are shown to be a {\em monotonic} function of the negativity. This yields a feasible, operational way to qu…
A C*-algebra formulation of Quantum Mechanics is derived from purely operational axioms in which the primary role is played by the "transformations" that the system undergoes in the course of an "experiment". The notion of the {\em adjoint} of a transformation is based on the postulated existence of "faithful states" that allows one to calibrate the experimental apparatus.
The operational formulations of quantum theory are drastically time oriented. However, to the best of our knowledge, microscopic physics is time-symmetric. We address this tension by showing that the asymmetry of the operational formulations does not reflect a fundamental time-orientation of physics. Instead, it stems from built-in assumptions about the $users$ of the theory. In particular, these formalisms are designed for predicting the future based on information about the past, and the main mathematical objects contain implicit assumption about the past, but not about the future. The main …
In the context of the readout scheme for gravitational-wave detectors, the "double balanced homodyne detection" proposed in [K.~Nakamura and M.-K.~Fujimoto, arXiv:1709.01697.] is discussed in detail. This double balanced homodyne detection enables us to measure the expectation values of the photon creation and annihilation operators. Although it has been said that the operator $\hat{b}_θ:=\cosθ\hat{b}_{1}+\sinθ\hat{b}_{2}$ can be measured through the homodyne detection in literature, we first show that the expectation value of the operator $\hat{b}_θ$ cannot be measured as the linear combinati…
Weak values are the fundamental values for observables in a pre- and post-selected system. Weak values are typically measured by weak measurement, in which weak values appear in the change of not the pre- and post-selected system but the probe system. This indirect characteristic of weak measurement obscures the meaning of weak values for the pre- and post-selected system, in contrast to conventional physical quantities, which have a clear operational meaning. In this study, we operationally formulate weak values as the sensitivity of post-selection probability amplitude to small transformatio…
We argue for an operational requirement that all state-dependent measures of disturbance should satisfy. Motivated by this natural criterion, we prove that in any $d$-dimensional Hilbert space and for any pair of non-commuting operators, $A$ and $B$, there exists a set of at least $2^{d-1}$ zero-noise, zero-disturbance (ZNZD) states, for which the first observable can be measured without noise and the second will not be disturbed. Moreover, we show that it is possible to construct such ZNZD states for which the expectation value of the commutator $[A,B]$ does not vanish. Therefore any state-de…
The balanced homodyne detection as a readout scheme of gravitational-wave detectors is carefully examined from the quantum field theoretical point of view. The readout scheme in gravitational-wave detectors specifies the directly measured quantum operator in the detection. This specification is necessary when we apply the recently developed quantum measurement theory to gravitational-wave detections. We examine the two models of measurement. One is the model in which the directly measured quantum operator at the photodetector is Glauber's photon number operator, and the other is the model in w…
In this article, I use an operational formulation of the Choi-Jamiołkowski isomorphism to explore an approach to quantum mechanics in which the state is not the fundamental object. I first situate this project in the context of generalized probabilistic theories and argue that this framework may be understood as a means of drawing conclusions about the intratheoretic causal structure of quantum mechanics which are independent of any specific ontological picture. I then give an operational formulation of the Choi-Jamiołkowski isomorphism and show that in an operational theory which exhibits thi…
In this work a generalization of the consistent histories approach to quantum mechanics is presented. We first critically review the consistent histories approach to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics in a mathematically rigorous way and give some general comments about it. We investigate to what extent the consistent histories scheme is compatible with the results of the operational formulation of quantum mechanics. According to the operational approach nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is most generally formulated in terms of effects, states and operations. We formulate a generalized consiste…
A universal formulation of uncertainty relations for quantum measurements is presented with additional focus on the representability of quantum observables by classical observables over a given state. Owing to the simplicity and operational tangibility of the framework, the resultant general relations admit natural operational interpretations and characterisations, and are thus also experimentally verifiable. In view of the universal formulation, Heisenberg's philosophy of the uncertainty principle is also revisited; it is reformulated and restated as a refined no-go theorem, albeit perhaps in…
Operational quasiprobability formulation of non-signaling in time for macrorealism violations
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-INO)(意大利国家光学研究所);European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy, Universitá di Firenze(佛罗伦萨大学非线性光谱学欧洲实验室);Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova(热那亚大学物理系);INFN - Sezione di Genova(意大利国家核物理研究所热那亚分部)
A universal formulation of the quantum uncertainty regarding quantum indeterminacy, quantum measurement, and its inevitable observer effect is presented with additional focus on the representability of quantum observables over a given state. The operational tangibility of the framework assures that the resultant general relations admit natural operational interpretations and characterisations, and thereby perhaps most importantly, their experimental verifiability. In view of the universal formulation, Heisenberg's original philosophy of the uncertainty principle, most typically exemplified in …
The symmetry of quantum theory under time reversal has long been a subject of controversy because the transition probabilities given by Born's rule do not apply backward in time. Here, we resolve this problem within a rigorous operational probabilistic framework. We argue that reconciling time reversal with the probabilistic rules of the theory requires a notion of operation that permits realizations via both pre- and post-selection. We develop the generalized formulation of quantum theory that stems from this approach and give a precise definition of time-reversal symmetry, emphasizing a prev…
In this paper we develop an operational formulation of General Relativity similar in spirit to existing operational formulations of Quantum Theory. To do this we introduce an operational space (or op-space) built out of scalar fields. A point in op-space corresponds to some nominated set of scalar fields taking some given values in coincidence. We assert that op-space is the space in which we observe the world. We introduce also a notion of agency (this corresponds to the ability to set knob settings just like in Operational Quantum Theory). The effects of agents' actions should only be felt t…
The standard formulation of quantum theory assumes a predefined notion of time. This is a major obstacle in the search for a quantum theory of gravity, where the causal structure of space-time is expected to be dynamical and fundamentally probabilistic in character. Here, we propose a generalized formulation of quantum theory without predefined time or causal structure, building upon a recently introduced operationally time-symmetric approach to quantum theory. The key idea is a novel isomorphism between transformations and states which depends on the symmetry transformation of time reversal. …
The mathematical formulation of Quantum Mechanics is derived from purely operational axioms based on a general definition of "experiment" as a set of transformations. The main ingredient of the mathematical construction is the postulated existence of "faithful states" that allows one to calibrate the experimental apparatus. Such notion is at the basis of the operational definitions of the scalar product and of the "adjoint" of a transformation.
We propose some formulations of the notion of "operational independence" of two subsystems of a larger quantum system and clarify their relation to other independence concepts in the literature. In addition, we indicate why the operational independence of quantum subsystems holds quite generally, both in nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum theory.
In the present paper I show how it is possible to derive the Hilbert space formulation of Quantum Mechanics from a comprehensive definition of "physical experiment" and assuming "experimental accessibility and simplicity" as specified by five simple Postulates. This accomplishes the program presented in form of conjectures in the previous paper quant-ph/0506034. Pivotal roles are played by the "local observability principle", which reconciles the holism of nonlocality with the reductionism of local observation, and by the postulated existence of "informationally complete observables" and of a …
A formulation of quantum mechanics based on an operational definition of state is presented. This formulation, which includes explicitly the macroscopic systems, assumes the probabilistic interpretation and is nevertheless objective. The classical paradoxes of quantum mechanics are analyzed and their origin is found to be the fictitious properties that are usually attributed to quantum-mechanical states. The hypothesis that any mixed state can always be considered as an incoherent superposition of pure states is found to contradict quantum mechanics. A solution of EPR paradox is proposed. It i…
We investigate the three-dimensional formulation of a recently proposed operational arrival-time model. It is shown that within typical conditions for optical transitions the results of the simple one-dimensional version are generally valid. Differences that may occur are consequences of Doppler and momentum-transfer effects. Ways to minimize these are discussed.
We discuss a novel framework for physical theories that is based on the principles of locality and operationalism. It generalizes and unifies previous frameworks, including the standard formulation of quantum theory, the convex operational framework and Segal's approach to quantum field theory. It is capable of encoding both classical and quantum (field) theories, implements spacetime locality in a manifest way and contains the complete modern notion of measurement in the quantum case. Its mathematical content can be condensed into a set of axioms that are similar to those of Atiyah and Segal.…