RECONSTRUCTION OF WIGNER FUNCTIONS ON DIFFERENT OBSERVATION LEVELS

We present a method for a reconstruction of Wigner functions of quantu m mechanical states of light on different observation levels. Using th e Jaynes principle of Maximum Entropy we show how to reconstruct the W igner function on the given observation level which is characterized b y mean values of a set of observables. We present examples illustratin g the power of the proposed method. In particular, we analyze the reco nstruction of Wigner Functions of coherent states, squeezed stares, Fo ck states, and superpositions of coherent states on various observatio n levels of physical relevance. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.