Measuring Wigner functions of quantum states of light in the undergraduate lab

Juan R. Álvarez, Andrés Martínez Silva, Alejandra Valencia

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

We present an educational activity for measuring Wigner distribution functions of quantum states of light in the undergraduate laboratory. The activity was implemented by undergraduate students in different courses of the undergraduate curriculum, and the resulting activity was tested by different students of an introductory Quantum Optics course at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. The activity consists of a two-hour laboratory practice where students work in a pre-aligned experimental setup and then use an open-access, custom made computational graphical user interface that enables the reconstruction of the Wigner distribution function. Since the testing of the activity coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibility of analyzing simulated data was included in the computational user interface. The activity is now running for in-person classes and its virtual feature is now valuable for the implementation of distance learning of Quantum Optics.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSeventeenth Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics, ETOP 2023
EditorsDavid J. Hagan, Mike McKee
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510666719
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event17th Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics, ETOP 2023 - Cocoa Beach, United States
Duration: 15 May 202318 May 2023

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume12723
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

Conference17th Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics, ETOP 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityCocoa Beach
Period15/05/2318/05/23

Keywords

  • Experimental methods
  • Homodyne detection
  • Quantum optics
  • Radon transform
  • Wigner distribution function

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