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Photon statistics without counting photons

Andrea R. Rossi·Stefano Olivares·Matteo G. A. Paris
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Abstract

We show how to obtain the photon distribution of a single-mode field using only avalanche photodetectors. The method is based on measuring the field at different quantum efficiencies and then inferring the photon distribution by maximum-likelihood estimation. The convergence of the method and its robustness against fluctuations are illustrated by means of numerically simulated experiments.

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Andrea R. Rossi, Stefano Olivares, Matteo G. A. Paris. 2004-06-03. Photon statistics without counting photons. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.70.055801

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