Quantum state reconstruction from incomplete data (Q1125122)

The paper addresses the physicist view of data analysis, in the context of standard quantum theory, where an abstract notion of the state of the system needs to be interpreted in terms of genuine experimental data. The maximum entropy principle is used for an estimation of quantum states (i.e. density operators or Wigner functions) when only a fraction of observables (their mean values) is known. State reconstruction via Bayesian inference is described and its fidelity is compared with the maximum entropy reconstruction procedure. Examples of Wigner function reconstruction for various nonclassical states of light, optical homodyne tomography and spin 1/2 states, are discussed in length.