We present a single inequality as the necessary and sufficient condition for two unsharp observables of a two-level system to be jointly measurable in a single apparatus and construct explicitly the joint observables. A complementarity inequality arising from the condition of joint measurement, which generalizes Englerts duality inequality, is derived as the trade-off between the unsharpnesses of two jointly measurable observables.
Heisenbergs uncertainty relations for measurement quantify how well we can jointly measure two complementary observables and have attracted much experimental and theoretical attention recently. Here we provide an exact tradeoff between the worst-case errors in measuring jointly two observables of a qubit, i.e., all the allowed and forbidden pairs of errors, especially asymmetric ones, are exactly pinpointed. For each pair of optimal errors we provide an optimal joint measurement that is realizable without introducing any ancilla and entanglement. Possible experimental implementations are discussed and Toronto experiment [Rozema et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 100404 (2012)] can be readily adapted to an optimal joint measurement of two orthogonal observables.
Unsharp measurements are increasingly important for foundational insights in quantum theory and quantum information applications. Here, we report an experimental implementation of unsharp qubit measurements in a sequential communication protocol, based on a quantum random access code. The protocol involves three parties; the first party prepares a qubit system, the second party performs operations which return both a classical and quantum outcome, and the latter is measured by the third party. We demonstrate a nearly-optimal sequential quantum random access code that outperforms both the best possible classical protocol and any quantum protocol which utilises only projective measurements. Furthermore, while only assuming that the involved devices operate on qubits and that detected events constitute a fair sample, we demonstrate the noise-robust characterisation of unsharp measurements based on the sequential quantum random access code. We apply this characterisation towards quantifying the degree of incompatibility of two sequential pairs of quantum measurements.
Wigner and Husimi quasi-distributions, owing to their functional regularity, give the two archetypal and equivalent representations of all observable-parameters in continuous-variable quantum information. Balanced homodyning and heterodyning that correspond to their associated sampling procedures, on the other hand, fare very differently concerning their state or parameter reconstruction accuracies. We present a general theory of a now-known fact that heterodyning can be tomographically more powerful than balanced homodyning to many interesting classes of single-mode quantum states, and discuss the treatment for two-mode sources.
We consider multi-time correlators for output signals from linear detectors, continuously measuring several qubit observables at the same time. Using the quantum Bayesian formalism, we show that for unital (symmetric) evolution in the absence of phase backaction, an $N$-time correlator can be expressed as a product of two-time correlators when $N$ is even. For odd $N$, there is a similar factorization, which also includes a single-time average. Theoretical predictions agree well with experimental results for two detectors, which simultaneously measure non-commuting qubit observables.
Being one of the centroidal concepts in quantum theory, the fundamental constraint imposed by Heisenberg uncertainty relations has always been a subject of immense attention and challenging in the context of joint measurements of general quantum mechanical observables. In particular, the recent extension of the original uncertainty relations has grabbed a distinct research focus and set a new ascendent target in quantum mechanics and quantum information processing. In the present work we explore the joint measurements of three incompatible observables, following the basic idea of a newly proposed error trade-off relation. In comparison to the counterpart of two incompatible observables, the joint measurements of three incompatible observables are more complex and of more primal interest in understanding quantum mechanical measurements. Attributed to the pristine idea proposed by Heisenberg in 1927, we develop the error trade-off relations for compatible observables to categorically approximate the three incompatible observables. Implementing these relations we demonstrate the first experimental witness of the joint measurements for three incompatible observables using a single ultracold $^{40}Ca^{+}$ ion in a harmonic potential. We anticipate that our inquisition would be of vital importance for quantum precision measurement and other allied quantum information technologies.