Inconclusive photon subtraction (IPS) is a conditional measurement scheme to force nonlinear evolution of a given state. In IPS the input state is mixed with the vacuum in a beam splitter and then the reflected beam is revealed by on-off photodetection. When the detector clicks we have the (inconclusive) photon subtracted state. We show that IPS on both channels of an entangled twin beam of radiation improves the fidelity of coherent state teleportation if the energy of the incoming twin beam is below a certain threshold, which depends on the beam splitter transmissivity and the quantum efficiency of photodetectors. We show that the energy threshold diverges when the transmissivity and the efficiency approach unity and compare our results with that of previous works on conclusive photon subtraction.

• Received 26 September 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.67.032314