Towards a complete and continuous Wigner function for an ensemble of spins or qubits

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards a complete and continuous Wigner function for an ensemble of spins or qubits

AU - Harland, Derek

AU - Everitt, M. J.

AU - Nemoto, Kae

AU - Tilma, T.

AU - Spiller, T. P.

PY - 2012/12/26

Y1 - 2012/12/26

N2 - We present a quasiprobability distribution function for ensembles of spin-half particles or qubits that has many properties in common with Wigner's original function for systems of continuous variables. We show that this function provides clear and intuitive graphical representation of a wide variety of states, including Fock states, spin-coherent states, squeezed states, superpositions, and statistical mixtures. The distribution is capable of simultaneously representing several angular momentum shells.

AB - We present a quasiprobability distribution function for ensembles of spin-half particles or qubits that has many properties in common with Wigner's original function for systems of continuous variables. We show that this function provides clear and intuitive graphical representation of a wide variety of states, including Fock states, spin-coherent states, squeezed states, superpositions, and statistical mixtures. The distribution is capable of simultaneously representing several angular momentum shells.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871804613&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.86.062117

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.86.062117

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84871804613

SN - 1050-2947

VL - 86

JO - Physical Review A

JF - Physical Review A

IS - 6

M1 - 062117

ER -