Quantum State Estimation

This book is a comprehensive survey of most of the theoretical and experimental achievements in the field of quantum estimation of states and operations. Albeit still quite young, this field has already been recognized as a necessary tool for research in quantum optics and quantum information, beyond being a fascinating subject in its own right since it touches upon the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. The book consists of twelve extensive lectures that are essentially self-contained and modular, allowing combination of various chapters as a basis for advanced courses and seminars on theoretical or experimental aspects. The last two chapters, for instance, form a self-contained exposition on quantum discrimination problems. The book will benefit graduate students and newcomers to the field as a high-level but accessible textbook, lecturers in search for advanced course material and researchers wishing to consult a modern and authoritative source of reference. TOC:Quantum Tomographic Methods.- Maximum-Likelihood Methods in Quantum Mechanics.- Qubit Quantum State Tomography.- Unknown Quantum States and Operations, a Bayesian View.- Quantum Tomography from Incomplete Data Via MaxEnt Principle.- Experimental Quantum State Tomography of Optical Fields and Ultrafast Statistical Sampling.- Characterization of Quantum Devices.- Quantum Operations on Qubits and Their Characterization.- Maximum-Likelihood Estimation in Experimental Quantum Physics.- Discrimination of Quantum States.- Quantum States: Discrimination and Classical Information Transmission. A Review of Experimental Progress.