Quantum state tomography from sequential measurement of two variables in a single setup

Antonio Di Lorenzo

Published 2013-03-28, updated 2013-10-19Version 3

We demonstrate that the task of determining an unknown quantum state can be accomplished efficiently by making a sequential measurement of two observables $\hat{A}$ and $\hat{B}$, provided that the two observables are chosen in such a way that their eigenstates may form bases connected by a discrete Fourier transform. The state can be pure or mixed, the dimension of the Hilbert space and the coupling strength are arbitrary, and the experimental setup is fixed. The concept of Moyal quasicharacteristic function is introduced for finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.