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PARAMETERS; STATES; LIGHT; SU(2)Physics;
Abstract:
We present a complete polarization characterization of any quantum state of two orthogonal polarization modes and give a systematic measurement procedure to collect the necessary data. Full characterization requires measurements of the photon number in both modes and linear optics. In the case where only the photon-number difference can be determined, a limited but useful characterization is obtained. The characteristic Stokes moment profiles are given for several common quantum states.