Symplectic Covariance Properties

Daisuke Watanabe, Shibata Takayuki, T. Hashimoto

Elena Cordero, Maurice A. de Gosson, Monika Dörfler +1 more

We study the covariance property of quadratic time-frequency distributions with respect to the action of the extended symplectic group. We show how covariance is related to and in fact in competition with the possibility of damping the interferences which arise due to the quadratic nature of the distributions. We also show that the well-known fully covariance property of the Wigner distribution in fact characterizes it (up to a constant factor) among the quadratic distributions $L^{2}(\mathbb{R}^{n})\rightarrow C_{0}({ \mathbb{R}^{2n}})$. A similar characterization for the closely related Weyl transform is given as well. The results are illustrated by several numerical experiments for the Wigner and Born--Jordan distributions of the sum of four Gaussian functions in the so-called diamond configuration.

Arik Avagyan

The set of covariance matrices of a continuous-variable quantum system with a finite number of degrees of freedom is a strict subset of the set of real positive-definite matrices (PDMs) due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. This has the implication that, in general, not every orthogonal transform of a quantum covariance matrix (CM) produces a PDM that obeys the uncertainty principle. A natural question thus arises, to find the set of quantum covariance matrices consistent with a given eigenspectrum. For the special class of pure Gaussian states the set of quantum covariance matrices with a given eigenspectrum consists of a single orbit of the action of the orthogonal symplectic group. The eigenspectrum of a CM of a state in this class is composed of pairs that each multiply to one. Our main contribution is finding a non-trivial class of eigenspectra with the property that the set of quantum covariance matrices corresponding to any eigenspectrum in this class are related by orthogonal symplectic transformations. We show that all non-degenerate eigenspectra with this property must belong to this class, and that the set of such eigenspectra coincides with the class of non-degenerate eigenspectra that identify the physically relevant thermal and squeezing parameters of a Gaussian state.

R. G. G. Amorim, Ademir Eugenio de Santana

Maurice A. de Gosson

We show that every Gaussian mixed quantum state can be disentangled by conjugation with a unitary operator corresponding to a symplectic rotation via the metaplectic representation of the symplectic group. The main tools we use are the Werner–Wolf condition for separability on covariance matrices and the symplectic covariance of Weyl pseudo-differential operators.