We analyze the optimal state, as given by Berry and Wiseman [Phys. Rev. Lett {\bf 85}, 5098, (2000)], under the canonical phase measurement in the presence of photon loss. The model of photon loss is a generic fictitious beam splitter, and we present the full density matrix calculations, which are more direct and do not involve any approximations. We find for a given amount of loss the upper bound for the input photon number that yields a sub-shot noise estimate.
We analyze the optimal state, as given by Berry and Wiseman [Phys. Rev. Lett {\bf 85}, 5098, (2000)], under the canonical phase measurement in the presence of photon loss. The model of photon loss is a generic fictitious beam splitter, and we present the full density matrix calculations, which are more direct and do not involve any approximations. We find for a given amount of loss the upper bound for the input photon number that yields a sub-shot noise estimate.
Quantum optical metrology deals with estimation of an unknown parameter by exploiting the non-classical properties of the light. The unknown parameter that we are trying to estimate is the optical phase. Precise optical phase measurement has been a well-known problem and has many applications, most notably the gravitational wave detection. In this thesis we investigate the interferometric measurement schemes. We consider the parity detection for a class of input states that have been shown to exhibit sub-shot noise limited phase estimate with their respective detection schemes. Our results indicate that the parity detection applies to all these strategies with various input states and thus acts as a unified detection scheme towards the goal of interferometric phase estimates beyond the shot-noise limit. We also consider the performance of the so-called optimal state with the canonical phase measurement scheme that was proposed by Sanders and Milburn [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2944 (1995)] in presence of photon loss. The model for photon loss is a generic fictitious beam splitter and the analytical treatment requires density matrix approach rather than the state-vector formalism. We present full density-matrix calculations. Our results indicate that, for a given amount of loss, the phase estimate saturates but does not diverge as one would expect with increasing the loss. Finally, we study the continuous measurement and feedback scheme with optical homodyne detection for a single optical qubit. We found a protocol that speeds up the rate of increase of the average purity of the system and generates a deterministic evolution for the purity in the limit of strong feedback.
We analyse the phase space representation of the optimal measurement of a phase shift in an interferometer with equal photon loss in both its arms. In the local phase estimation scenario with a fixed number of photons, we identify features of the spin Wigner function that warrant sub-shot-noise precision, and discuss their sensitivity to losses. We derive the asymptotic form of an integral kernel describing the process of photon loss in the phase space in the limit of large photon numbers. The analytic form of this kernel allows one to assess the ultimate precision limit for a lossy interferometer. We also provide a general lower bound on the quantum Fisher information in terms of spin Wigner functions.
We study the precise phase estimation using squeezed states in the presence of photon loss. Our exact quantum Fisher information calculation shows significant enhancement even though the loss is very large and sets a benchmark for experimental realization. We show that if we blindly use the existing parity measurement scheme [Anisimov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 103602 (2010)] for the ideal case, the result will be even worse than the classical case given very small loss. Using our formulas, we can optimize the measurement result by making loss-dependent phase shift and choosing appropriate squeezed states (average photon number of squeezed states).
The presence of loss limits the precision of an approach to phase measurement using maximally entangled states, also referred to as NOON states. A calculation using a simple beam-splitter model of loss shows that, for all nonzero values L of the loss, phase measurement precision degrades with increasing number N of entangled photons for N sufficiently large. For L above a critical value of approximately 0.785, phase measurement precision degrades with increasing N for all values of N. For L near zero, phase measurement precision improves with increasing N down to a limiting precision of approximately 1.018Lradians, attained at N approximately equal to 2.218∕L, and degrades as N increases beyond this value. Phase measurement precision with multiple measurements and a fixed total number of photons NT is also examined. For L above a critical value of approximately 0.586, the ratio of phase measurement precision attainable with NOON states to that attainable by conventional methods using unentangled coherent states degrades with increasing N, the number of entangled photons employed in a single measurement, for all values of N. For L near zero this ratio is optimized by using approximately N=1.279∕L entangled photons in each measurement, yielding a precision of approximately 1.340L∕NTradians.
We analyze the ultimate bounds on the phase sensitivity of an interferometer, given the constraint that the state input to the interferometer's initial 50:50 beam splitter B is a product state of the two input modes. Requiring a product state is a natural restriction: If one were allowed to input an arbitrary, entangled two-mode state $|\ensuremath{\Xi}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ to the beam splitter, one could generally just as easily input the state $B|\ensuremath{\Xi}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ directly into the two modes after the beam splitter, thus rendering the beam splitter unnecessary. We find optimal states for a fixed photon number and for a fixed mean photon number.