Realistic phase distributions derived from the Wigner function

Abstract

The authors present the radius integrated Wigner function for a general pure state and discuss the coefficients of the different Fourier components. A fast converging expansion of these coefficients is given and its usefulness is shown for coherent light. Remarkable and measurable differences to the Pegg-Barnett formalism appear for weakly excited coherent states while for large excitations both dispersions agree in their leading terms. Large deviations are expected for specially designed two-photon coherent states.