Quantum phase space measurement and entanglement validation made easy

TL;DR

This paper presents a universal method for measuring quantum state Wigner functions on quantum systems, demonstrated on IBM's quantum processor, enabling efficient entanglement validation and state analysis.

Contribution

The authors introduce a general procedure for Wigner function measurement applicable to any quantum system, facilitating easier quantum state analysis and entanglement validation.

Findings

Successfully measured Wigner functions of Bell and GHZ states on IBM quantum processor.

Compared different Wigner function definitions for spin systems, highlighting their non-uniqueness.

Developed an efficient entanglement test based on Wigner function analysis.

Abstract

It has recently been shown that it is possible to represent the complete quantum state of any system as a phase-space quasi-probability distribution (Wigner function) [Phys Rev Lett 117, 180401]. Such functions take the form of expectation values of an observable that has a direct analogy to displaced parity operators. In this work we give a procedure for the measurement of the Wigner function that should be applicable to any quantum system. We have applied our procedure to IBM's Quantum Experience five-qubit quantum processor to demonstrate that we can measure and generate the Wigner functions of two different Bell states as well as the five-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state. As Wigner functions for spin systems are not unique, we define, compare, and contrast two distinct examples. We show how using these Wigner functions leads to an optimal method for quantum state analysis especially in the situation where specific characteristic features are of particular interest (such as for spin Schr\"odinger cat states). Furthermore we show that this analysis leads to straightforward, and potentially very efficient, entanglement test and state characterisation methods.