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arXiv:2503.17480 · Physical Review Research

Fundamental limits on determination of photon number statistics from measurements with multiplexed on/off detectors

Jaromír Fiurášek

Published Jul 23, 2025• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We investigate fundamental bounds on the ability to determine photon number distribution and other related quantities from tomographically incomplete measurements with an array of M detectors that can only distinguish the absence or presence of photons. We show that the lower and upper bounds on photon number probabilities can be determined by solving a linear program. We present and discuss numerical results for various input states, including thermal states, coherent states, squeezed states, and highly nonclassical single-photon subtracted squeezed vacuum states. Besides photon number probabilities, we also investigate bounds on the parity of photon number distribution that determines the value of Wigner function of the state at the origin of phase space. Moreover, we also discuss estimation of mean photon number as an example of a quantity described by an unbounded operator. Our approach and results can provide quantitative guidance on the number of detection channels required to determine the photon number distribution with a given precision.

DOI
10.1103/49wr-wgf7

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