Amplified thermal state: Properties and decoherence

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the amplified thermal state (ATS) by operating [Formula: see text] on the thermal state (TS). Here, [Formula: see text] is the amplification factor and [Formula: see text] is the photon number operator. We study its properties, such as light intensity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), Fock matrix elements and Wigner function. In addition, we study its decoherence in photon-loss channel by analyzing evolution of all above properties. All considered properties are derived analytically and simulated numerically. Compared with the original TS, the amplification can enhance light intensity and SNR, remain the mixed character, and exhibit non-Gaussianity. While the decoherence will weaken light intensity and SNR, remain the mixed character, and return to Gaussian state.