Efficient Convex Optimization for Bosonic State Tomography

Abstract

Quantum states encoded in electromagnetic fields, also known as bosonic states, have been widely applied in quantum sensing, quantum communication, and quantum error correction. Accurate characterization is therefore essential yet difficult when states cannot be reconstructed with sparse Pauli measurements. Tomography must work with dense measurement bases, high-dimensional Hilbert spaces, and often sample-based data. However, existing convex optimization-based techniques are not efficient enough and scale poorly when extended to large and multi-mode systems. In this work, we explore convex optimization as an effective framework to address problems in bosonic state tomography, introducing three techniques to enhance efficiency and scalability: efficient displacement operator computation, Hilbert space truncation, and stochastic convex optimization, which mitigate common limitations of existing approaches. Then we propose a sample-based, convex maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) method specifically designed for flying mode tomography. Numerical simulations of flying four-mode and nine-mode problems demonstrate the accuracy and practicality of our methods. This method provides practical tools for reliable bosonic mode quantum state reconstruction in high-dimensional and multi-mode systems.