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arXiv:quant-ph/9706024 · Journal of Modern Optics

Radon transform and pattern functions in quantum tomography

Alfred Wünsche

Published Nov 1, 1997• 55 citations
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Abstract

The two-dimensional Radon transform of the Wigner quasiprobability is introduced in canonical form and the functions playing a role in its inversion are discussed. The transformation properties of this Radon transform with respect to displacement and squeezing of states are studied and it is shown that the latter is equivalent to a symplectic transformation of the variables of the Radon transform with the contragredient matrix to the transformation of the variables in the Wigner quasiprobability. The reconstruction of the density operator from the Radon transform and the direct reconstruction of its Fock-state matrix elements and of its normally ordered moments are discussed. It is found that for finite-order moments the integration over the angle can be reduced to a finite sum over a discrete set of angles. The reconstruction of the Fock-state matrix elements from the normally ordered moments leads to a new representation of the pattern functions by convergent series over even or odd Hermite polynomials which is appropriate for practical calculations. The structure of the pattern functions as first derivatives of the products of normalizable and non-normalizable eigenfunctions to the number operator is considered from the point of view of this new representation.

DOI
10.1080/09500349708231885

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The two-dimensional Radon transform of the Wigner quasiprobability is introduced in canonical form and the functions playing a role in its inversion are discussed. The transformation properties of this Radon transform with respect to displacement and squeezing of states are studied and it is shown that the latter is equivalent to a symplectic transformation of the variables of the Radon transform with the contragredient matrix to the transformation of the variables in the Wigner quasiprobability. The reconstruction of the density operator from the Radon transform and the direct reconstruction of its Fock-state matrix elements and of its normally ordered moments are discussed. It is found that for finite-order moments the integration over the angle can be reduced to a finite sum over a discrete set of angles. The reconstruction of the Fock-state matrix elements from the normally ordered moments leads to a new representation of the pattern functions by convergent series over even or odd Hermite polynomials which is appropriate for practical calculations. The structure of the pattern functions as first derivatives of the products of normalizable and non-normalizable eigenfunctions to the number operator is considered from the point of view of this new representation.
It is shown that the symmetrically ordered moments of boson operators for a single boson mode can be reconstructed from the corresponding moments of the Radon transform of the Wigner quasiprobability for discrete sets of equidistant inequivalent angles which solve the circle division problem. This reconstruction is sometimes simpler than the corresponding reconstruction of the normally ordered moments where one first has to multiply the Radon transform with Hermite polynomials in comparison to power functions for symmetrically ordered moments and then to integrate. The connection to the reconstruction for the general class of s-ordered moments is established. The transition from discrete sets of angles to integration over angles via averaging over the discrete angles is made. The results are applied to displaced squeezed thermal states. It is shown how the ordered moments for these states can be explicitly found from the calculated Radon transform of the Wigner quasiprobability. The obtained formulae for these moments possess independent interest since they contribute to the discussion of the properties of the most general class of states with quasiprobabilities of Gaussian form with many possible special cases as, for example, squeezed coherent states and squeezed thermal states.
The generalization of tomographic maps to hyperplanes is considered. We find that the Radon transform of the Wigner operator in multi-dimensional phase space leads to a normally ordered operator in binomial distribution—a mixed-state density operator. Reconstruction of the Wigner operator is also feasible. The normally ordered form and the Weyl ordered form of the Wigner operator are used in our derivation. The operator quantum tomography theory is expressed in terms of some operator identities, with the merit of revealing the essence of the theory in a simple and concise way.
Quasiprobability measures on a canonical phase space give rise through the action of Weyl's quantization map to operator-valued measures and, in particular, to region operators. Spectral properties, transformations, and general construction methods of such operators are investigated. Geometric trace-increasing maps of density operators are introduced for the construction of region operators associated with one-dimensional domains, as well as with two-dimensional shapes (segments, canonical polygons, lattices, etc.). Operational methods are developed that implement such maps in terms of unitary operations by introducing extensions of the original quantum system with ancillary spaces (qubits). Tomographic methods of reconstruction of the Wigner function based on the radon transform technique are derived by the construction methods for region operators. A Hamiltonian realization of the region operator associated with the radon transform is provided, together with physical interpretations.
A set of orthonormalized and complete functions of two real variables in complex representation involving Laguerre polynomials as a substantial part is introduced and is referred to as the set of Laguerre two-dimensional (2D) functions. The properties of the set of Laguerre 2D-functions are discussed and the Fourier and Radon transforms of these functions are calculated. The Laguerre 2D-functions form a basis for a realization of the five-dimensional Lie algebra to the Heisenberg-Weyl group for a two-mode system. Real representation of this set of functions by a sum over products of Hermite functions involving Jacobi polynomials at the zero argument as coefficients is derived and it leads to new connections between Laguerre and Hermite polynomials in both directions. The set of Laguerre 2D-functions is the most appropriate set of functions for the Fock-state representation of quasi-probabilities in quantum optics. The Wigner quasi-probability in Fock-state representation is up to a factor and an argument scaling directly given for each matrix element by a corresponding Laguerre 2D-function. The properties of orthonormality and completeness of the Laguerre 2D-functions provide the Fock-state matrix elements of the density operator directly from the quasi-probabilities. The Perina-Mista representation of the Glauber-Sudarshan quasi-probability can be represented with advantage by the Laguerre 2D-functions. The Fock-state matrix elements of the displacement operator and the scalar product of displaced Fock states are closely related to Laguerre 2D-functions.
Using the technique of integration within an ordered product of operators, we reveal that a new quantum mechanical representation |x,µ,ν exists, the eigenvector of operator µQ + νP (linear combination of coordinate Q and momentum P) with eigenvalue x, which is inherent to the two-parameter (µ,ν) Radon transformation of the Wigner operator. It turns out that the projection operator |x,µ,νx,µ,ν| is just the Radon transformation of the Wigner operator. The inverse of operator Radon transformation is also derived which indicates tomography in operator version.
The first part is a systematical representation of the Wigner quasiprobability in representations by canonical variables and pairs of complex conjugate variables with particular attention to the reconstruction of the density operator from the Wigner quasiprobability to show their equivalence. All formulae are derived from basic postulates of quantum mechanics. Problems of operator orderings are touched. The second part considers the integration over the amplitude in the Wigner quasiprobability and its specialization for coherent states and for even and odd coherent states and provides phase distributions which are presented in graphics that are new in their kind. It is demonstrated that the Heitler number phase uncertainty relation is incorrect. The problem of the transition from quantum to classical distribution functions by ℏ→0 is discussed with the conjecture that the inertial point of the distributions plays a basic role.