Generating superpositions of quantum states via a beam splitter with position measurement

Abstract

We use the quadrature measurement to generate the novel nonclassical states via the beam splitter with two input states, i.e., a Fock state and a vacuum state. It is interesting to find that the desired target states are the Hermite polynomial excited vacuum states. Our results have shown that the zero-position detection for the position detector, the little photon number in the input state, and the high transmittance of the beam splitter (BS) are beneficial to improve the detection efficiency of finding the output states. The proposed states quantum statistical properties and squeezing effects are also studied in detail via different criteria. Our numerical analysis demonstrates that the output quantum states are new nonclassical states. Compared with the method of photon catalysis, position detection is easier to realize in experiments. Therefore, the results in this paper shall provide theoretical support for the experimental generation of several new nonclassical states.