Single-qubit measurements are typically insufficient for inferring arbitrary quantum states of a multi-qubit system. We show that if the system can be fully controlled by driving a single qubit, then utilizing a local random pulse is almost always sufficient for complete quantum-state tomography. Experimental demonstrations of this principle are presented using a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond coupled to a nuclear spin, which is not directly accessible. We report the reconstruction of a highly entangled state between the electron and nuclear spin with fidelity above 95%, by randomly driving and measuring the NV-center electron spin only. Beyond quantum-state tomography, we outline how this principle can be leveraged to characterize and control quantum processes in cases where the system model is not known.
@article{arxiv.1909.09980,
title = {Complete Quantum-State Tomography with a Local Random Field},
author = {Pengcheng Yang and Min Yu and Ralf Betzholz and Christian Arenz and Jianming Cai},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1909.09980},
year = {2020}
}