UNAMBIGUOUS QUANTUM MEASUREMENT OF NONORTHOGONAL STATES

Generalized quantum measurements can be used to separate deterministic ally two nonorthogonal quantum states. However, such measurements also lead to inconclusive results, where the initial state remains unknown . We introduce a particular type of generalized quantum measurement, w hich we term loss induced generalized (LIGe) quantum measurement, and present an experimental realization. This LIGe measurement achieves op timal deterministic separation of two nonorthogonally polarized single photons.