arXiv:quant-ph/9703026 · Physical Review A

Least-squares inversion for density-matrix reconstruction

Tomáš Opatrný, D.‐G. Welsch, W. Vogel

Published Sep 1, 1997• 80 citations

Abstract

We propose a method for reconstruction of the density matrix from measurable time-dependent (probability) distributions of physical quantities. The applicability of the method based on least-squares inversion is---compared with other methods---very universal. It can be used to reconstruct quantum states of various systems, such as harmonic and anharmonic oscillators including molecular vibrations in vibronic transitions and damped motion. It also enables one to take into account various specific features of experiments, such as limited sets of data and data smearing owing to limited resolution. To illustrate the method, we consider a Morse oscillator and give a comparison with other state-reconstruction methods suggested recently.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.56.1788

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