Double self-Kerr scheme for optical Schrödinger-cat state preparation

Abstract: We propose a scheme to prepare optical Schr\"odinger-cat states in a traveling wave setting. Two states are similarly prepared via the self-Kerr effect and after mixing them, one mode is measured by homodyne detection. In the other mode a superposition of coherent states is conditionally prepared. The advantage of the scheme is that assuming a small Kerr effect one can prepare with high probability one from a set of Schr\"odinger-cat states. The measured value of the quadrature provides the information, which state from the set is actually prepared.