Witnessing the degree of nonclassicality of light

Abstract

We introduce an experimentally accessible method to measure a unique degree of nonclassicality, based on the quantum superposition principle, for arbitrary quantum states. We formulate witnesses and test a given state for any particular value of this measure. The construction of optimal tests is presented as well as the general numerical implementation. We apply this approach on examples such as squeezed states, and we show how to formulate conditions to certify a particular degree of nonclassicality for single- and multimode radiation fields.