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The standard method for experimentally determining the probability distribution of an observable in quantum mechanics is the measurement of the observable spectrum. However, for infinite-dimensional degrees of freedom, this approach would require ideally infinite or, more realistically, a very large number of measurements. Here we consider an alternative method which can yield the mean and variance of an observable of an infinite-dimensional system by measuring only a two-dimensional pointer weakly coupled with the system. In our demonstrative implementation, we determine both the mean and the variance of the orbital angular momentum of a light beam without acquiring the entire spectrum, but measuring the Stokes parameters of the optical polarization (acting as pointer), after the beam has suffered a suitable spin–orbit weak interaction. This example can provide a paradigm for a new class of useful weak quantum measurements.

Directly measuring mean and variance of infinite-spectrum observables such as the photon orbital angular momentum