State and Process Tomography : In Spekkens' Toy Model

Abstract: In 2004 Robert W. Spekkens introduced a toy theory designed to make a case for the epistemic view of quantum mechanics. But how does Spekkens’ toy model differ from quantum theory? While some differences are well-established, we attempt to approach this question from a tomographic point of view. More specifically, we provide experimentally viableprocedureswhichenablesustocompletelycharacterizethestatesandgatesthatare available in the toy model. We show that, in contrast to quantum theory, decompositions of transformations in the toy model must be done in a non-linear fashion.