Measuring microwave quantum states: Tomogram and moments

Two measurable characteristics of microwave one-mode photon states are discussed: a rotated quadrature distribution (tomogram) and normally and antinormally ordered moments of photon creation and annihilation operators. Extraction of these characteristics from an amplified microwave signal is presented. Relations between the tomogram and the moments are found and can be used as a cross-check of experiments. Formalism of the ordered moments is developed. The state purity and generalized uncertainty relations are considered in terms of moments. Unitary and nonunitary time evolution of moments is obtained in the form of a system of linear differential equations in contrast to partial differential equations for quasidistributions. Time evolution is specified for the cases of a harmonic oscillator and a damped harmonic oscillator which describe noiseless and decoherence processes, respectively.