title: Demonstration of near-optimal discrimination of optical coherent states.
abstract: The optimal discrimination of nonorthogonal quantum states with minimum error probability is a fundamental task in quantum measurement theory as well as an important primitive in optical communication. In this work, we propose and experimentally realize a new and simple quantum measurement strategy capable of discriminating two coherent states with smaller error probabilities than can be obtained using the standard measurement devices: the Kennedy receiver and the homodyne receiver.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik, Max-Planck-Forschungsgruppe, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Günther-Scharowsky-Strasse 1, 91058, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wittmann
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeoka
authors.forename: Katiúscia N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Cassemiro
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leuchs
authors.forename: Ulrik L
authors.initials: UL
authors.lastname: Andersen