Mixed states with positive Wigner functions

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Abstract
The Wigner distribution function of a pure quantum state is everywhere positive if and only if the state is coherent, according to a result of Hudson. The characterization of mixed states with a positive Wigner function is a special case of the problem of determining functions satisfying a twisted positive definiteness condition for a prescribed set of twisting parameters (i.e., functions with given ‘‘Wigner spectrum’’ in the sense of Narcowich). If a state is a convex combination of coherent states, it has the property that the Wigner spectrum contains the unit interval, which in turn implies that the Wigner function is positive. It is shown by explicit examples that the converses of both implications are false. The examples are taken from a low-dimensional section of the state space, in which all Wigner spectra can be computed. In this set counterexamples to a conjecture by Narcowich concerning the Wigner spectrum of products are also found, as well as a state whose Wigner spectrum is a convergent sequence of discrete points.

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