Introduction to Quantum-state Estimation

"This book is a detailed, well-written introduction to the way of inferring quantum states parameters from measurement data. This book is surely something to recommend to one's students." Dmitri Mogilevtsev Institute of Physics Minsk, Belarus "The book would be good for a student who wants to learn about some of the techniques used in quantum state tomography. It would probably be easiest to use it as an accompaniment to a series of lectures on the subject, though a determined student could work through the text on their own." Professor Mark Hillery Hunter College of the City University of New YorK Quantum-state estimation is an important field in quantum information theory that deals with the characterization of states of affairs for quantum sources. This book begins with background formalism in estimation theory to establish the necessary prerequisites. This basic understanding allows us to explore popular likelihood- and entropy-related estimation schemes that are suitable for an introductory survey on the subject. Discussions on practical aspects of quantum-state estimation ensue, with emphasis on the evaluation of tomographic performances for estimation schemes, experimental realizations of quantum measurements and detection of single-mode multi-photon sources. Finally, the concepts of phase-space distribution functions, which compatibly describe these multi-photon sources, are introduced to bridge the gap between discrete and continuous quantum degrees of freedom. This book is intended to serve as an instructive and self-contained medium for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students to grasp the basics of quantum-state estimation. Any reader with a solid foundation in quantum mechanics, linear algebra and calculus would be able to follow the book comfortably.