Generalized coherent states and extremal positive operator valued measures
Teiko Heinosaari, Juha-Pekka Pellonpää · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical · 2012
We present a correspondence between positive operator valued measures (POVMs) and sets of generalized coherent states. POVMs describe quantum observables and, similar to quantum states, quantum observables can also be mixed. We show how the formalism of generalized coherent states leads to a useful characterization of extremal POVMs. We prove that covariant phase-space observables related to squeezed states are extremal, while those related to number states are not extremal. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to 'Coherent states: mathematical and physical aspects'.