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arXiv:0803.3398 · Physical Review A

Measuring complete quantum states with a single observable

Xinhua Peng, Jiangfeng Du, Dieter Suter

Published Oct 18, 2007• 15 citations
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Abstract

Experimental determination of an unknown quantum state usually requires several incompatible measurements. However, it is also possible to determine the full quantum state from a single, repeated measurement. For this purpose, the quantum system whose state is to be determined is first coupled to a second quantum system (the ``assistant'') in such a way that part of the information in the quantum state is transferred to the assistant. The actual measurement is then performed on the enlarged system including the original system and the assistant. We discuss in detail the requirements of this procedure and experimentally implement it on a simple quantum system consisting of nuclear spins.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.76.042117

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Experimental determination of an unknown quantum state usually requires several incompatible measurements. However, it is also possible to determine the full quantum state from a single, repeated measurement. For this purpose, the quantum system whose state is to be determined is first coupled to a second quantum system (the ``assistant'') in such a way that part of the information in the quantum state is transferred to the assistant. The actual measurement is then performed on the enlarged system including the original system and the assistant. We discuss in detail the requirements of this procedure and experimentally implement it on a simple quantum system consisting of nuclear spins.
This paper shows how one can reconstruct an unknown nnn-qubit state by only a single apparatus. Its core is a redistribution of the information within an extended Hilbert space by coupling the unknown system with an assistant system through only a pairwise interaction, which results in a one-to-one mapping between the unknown density matrix elements and the probabilities of the occurrence of the eigenvalues of a single, factorized observable of the composite system. In such an interaction configuration, which is more feasible in experiments, the quality of the measurement only depends on that of the subsystem consisting a of one-qubit system coupled to a one-qubit assistant. We analyze in detail the performance of this procedure and experimentally implement it for reconstructing an unknown two-qubit state using a four-nuclear-spin system.
One can uniquely identify an unknown state of a quantum system SSS by measuring a ``quorum'' consisting of a complete set of noncommuting observables. It is also possible to determine the quantum state by repeated measurements of a single and factorized observable, when the system SSS is coupled to an assistant system AAA whose initial state is known. This is because that the redistribution of the information about the unknown quantum state into the composite system A+SA+SA+S results in a one-to-one mapping between the unknown density matrix elements and the probabilities of the occurrence of the eigenvalues of a single, factorized observable of the composite system. Here we focus on quantum state tomography of high-dimensional quantum systems (e.g., a spin greater than 1/2) via a single observable. We determine the condition for the best determination and the upper bound to achieve the most robust measurements. From the experimental view we require a suitable interaction Hamiltonian to maximize the measure efficiency. For this we numerically investigate a three-level system. Moreover, the error analysis for the different-dimensional quantum states shows that the present measurement method is still very effective in determining an unknown state of a high-dimensional quantum system.
It is shown that the full unknown state of a spin-1/2 system, S, which, within Born's statistical interpretation, is meant as the state of an ensamble of identically prepared systems, can be determined with a simultaneous measurement with the help of an "assistant" system A whose initial state is known. The idea is to let S and A interact with each other in a known way during a proper interaction time, to measure simultaneously two observables, one of S and one of A and their correlation. One thus determines the three unknown components of the polarization vector of S by means of repeated experiments using a unique setting. In this way one can measure simultaneously all the non-commutative observables of S, which might seem prohibited in quantum mechanics.
It is shown that the full unknown state of a spin-1/2 system, S, which, within Born's statistical interpretation, is meant as the state of an ensamble of identically prepared systems, can be determined with a simultaneous measurement with the help of an "assistant" system A whose initial state is known. The idea is to let S and A interact with each other in a known way during a proper interaction time, to measure simultaneously two observables, one of S and one of A and their correlation. One thus determines the three unknown components of the polarization vector of S by means of repeated experiments using a unique setting. In this way one can measure simultaneously all the non-commutative observables of S, which might seem prohibited in quantum mechanics.
The unknown state rho of a quantum system S is determined by letting it interact with an auxiliary system A, the initial state of which is known. A one-to-one mapping can thus be realized between the density matrix rho and the probabilities of the occurrence of the eigenvalues of a single and factorized observable of S+A, so that rho can be determined by repeated measurements using a single apparatus. If S and A are spins, it suffices to measure simultaneously their z components after a controlled interaction. The most robust setups are determined in this case for an initially pure or a completely disordered state of A. They involve an Ising or anisotropic Heisenberg coupling and an external field.
A measurement procedure on a spin 1/2 system is described, whose effect on the (possibly unknown) state of the system can be reversed, by means of other similar measurements, with a sizable probability of success Prev{P}^{\mathrm{rev}}Prev (e.g., 12<Prev<1\frac{1}{2}<{P}^{\mathrm{rev}}<121​<Prev<1, depending on the state). Repeated such measurements followed by reversal, on a single system, allow us to determine its (a priori unknown) state operator with a probability of success which is nonzero, though extremely small (because Prev<1{P}^{\mathrm{rev}}<1Prev<1).