English

Moments of the Wigner Distribution and a Generalized Uncertainty Principle

Quantum Physics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

The nonnegativity of the density operator of a state is faithfully coded in its Wigner distribution, and this places constraints on the moments of the Wigner distribution. These constraints are presented in a canonically invariant form which is both concise and explicit. Since the conventional uncertainty principle is such a constraint on the first and second moments, our result constitutes a generalization of the same to all orders. Possible application in quantum state reconstruction using optical homodyne tomography is noted.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9708037,
  title  = {Moments of the Wigner Distribution and a Generalized Uncertainty Principle},
  author = {R. Simon and N. Mukunda},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9708037},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

REVTex, no figures, 9 pages