Null values and quantum state discrìmination

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Apr 26;110(17):170405. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.170405. Epub 2013 Apr 25.

Abstract

We present a measurement protocol for discriminating between two different quantum states of a qubit with high fidelity. The protocol, called null value, is comprised of a projective measurement performed on the system with a small probability (also known as partial collapse), followed by a tuned postselection. We report on an optical experimental implementation of the scheme. We show that our protocol leads to an amplified signal-to-noise ratio (as compared with a straightforward strong measurement) when discerning between the two quantum states.