Any nonclassical effect noticed in measured statistics is usually attributed just to the light state being observed. According to Born's rule, quantum probabilities are given by the overlap between the system state and measurement states in a quite symmetrical way. We demonstrate that the nonclassicality of the measurement is a necessary condition to obtain nonclassical statistics. To this end, we present a detector characterization for two-observable joint detection processes based on detector tomography. This is particularized to the most common signatures of nonclassical light.

• Received 26 March 2020
• Accepted 13 July 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.102.022222