Photon-number superselection and the entangled coherent-state representation

We introduce the entangled coherent state representation, which provides a powerful technique for efficiently and elegantly describing and analyzing quantum optics sources and detectors while respecting the photon number superselection rule that is satisfied by all known quantum optics experiments. We apply the entangled coherent state representation to elucidate and resolve the longstanding puzzles of the coherence of a laser output field, interference between two number states, and dichotomous interpretations of quantum teleportation of coherent states.