Photon added cat state: phase space structure and statistics

Opt Lett. 2021 Mar 1;46(5):1177-1180. doi: 10.1364/OL.415713.

Abstract

The phase space structure and statistics of the photon added cat state are studied in the state's general form. Photon addition leads to a π phase shift at the origin in the observed phase space interference of the Wigner function, which may serve as an error syndrome detector. The maxima and minima of the sub-Planck tiles in the phase space of the kitten state are interchanged after photon addition, leading to their orthogonality. Interestingly, photon addition to the Yurke-Stoler state characterized by Poissonian statistics leads to a sub-Poissonian distribution, which may find potential use in quantum noise reduction.