Unambiguous discrimination of nonorthogonal quantum states in cavity QED

We propose an oversimplified scheme to unambiguously discriminate nonorthogonal quantum field states inside high-Q cavities. Our scheme, which is based on positive operator-valued measures (POVM) technique, uses a single three-level atom interacting resonantly with a single mode of a cavity-field and selective atomic state detectors. While the single three-level atom takes the role of the ancilla, the single cavity mode field represents the system we want to obtain information. The efficiency of our proposal is analyzed considering the nowadays achievements in the context of cavity QED. We also analyze the effect of a thermal environment to discrimination of nonorthogonal states.