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Heralding probability optimization for nonclassical light generated by photon counting measurements on multimode Gaussian states

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Generation of highly nonclassical quantum states of light is essential for optical quantum information processing and quantum metrology. Given the lack of sufficiently strong nonlinear interactions between optical fields, the commonly employed optical quantum-state preparation schemes are conditional, based on nonlinearity induced by heralding photon number measurement on a part of a multimode squeezed Gaussian state. The development and optimization of such probabilistic quantum-state engineering schemes represents one of the central challenges in current quantum optics. As technology advances and experiments progress toward the detection of higher numbers of photons, the maximization of the heralding probability becomes essential to ensure sufficiently high state-preparation rates. Here, we show that for conditional quantum state preparation schemes based on Gaussian states and photon number measurements, the maximization of the heralding probability can be achieved by finding solutions to a system of polynomial equations, which offers an efficient way to find the optimal configuration and allows us to apply techniques dedicated specifically to solving such systems of equations. Our approach can seamlessly incorporate bounds on available single-mode quadrature squeezing, which is highly experimentally relevant. We mainly consider the generation of finite superpositions of Fock states but show that the approach can be straightforwardly extended to the generation of squeezed superpositions of Fock states. We focus on Gaussian states with vanishing coherent displacements, hence, the conditionally generated states have well-defined photon number parity. We illustrate our general methodology through examples of generation of single-mode states with two and three heralding modes, and generation of two-mode states with two heralding modes.
DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/ae9185
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,895
OpenAlex ID: W7171554222
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