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arXiv:1005.4741 · Physical Review A

Uncertainty limits for quantum metrology obtained from the statistics of weak measurements

Holger Friedrich Hofmann

Published Feb 22, 2011• 51 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum metrology uses small changes in the output probabilities of a quantum measurement to estimate the magnitude of a weak interaction with the system. The sensitivity of this procedure depends on the relation between the input state, the measurement results, and the generator observable describing the effect of the weak interaction on the system. This is similar to the situation in weak measurements, where the weak value of an observable exhibits a symmetric dependence on initial and final conditions. In this paper, it is shown that the phase sensitivity of a quantum measurement is in fact given by the variance of the imaginary parts of the weak values of the generator over the different measurement outcomes. It is then possible to include the limitations of a specific quantum measurement in the uncertainty bound for phase estimates by subtracting the variance of the real parts of the weak values from the initial generator uncertainty. This uncertainty relation can be interpreted as the time-symmetric formulation of the uncertainty limit of quantum metrology, where the real parts of the weak values represent the information about the generator observable in the final measurement result.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.022106

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Quantum metrology uses small changes in the output probabilities of a quantum measurement to estimate the magnitude of a weak interaction with the system. The sensitivity of this procedure depends on the relation between the input state, the measurement results, and the generator observable describing the effect of the weak interaction on the system. This is similar to the situation in weak measurements, where the weak value of an observable exhibits a symmetric dependence on initial and final conditions. In this paper, it is shown that the phase sensitivity of a quantum measurement is in fact given by the variance of the imaginary parts of the weak values of the generator over the different measurement outcomes. It is then possible to include the limitations of a specific quantum measurement in the uncertainty bound for phase estimates by subtracting the variance of the real parts of the weak values from the initial generator uncertainty. This uncertainty relation can be interpreted as the time-symmetric formulation of the uncertainty limit of quantum metrology, where the real parts of the weak values represent the information about the generator observable in the final measurement result.
Since weak measurements are known to produce measurement values that can be much larger than the maximal eigenvalues of the measured observable, it is an interesting question how this enhancement of the measurement signal relates to the sensitivity of quantum measurements as investigated in the field of quantum metrology. In this presentation, it is pointed out that the estimation of a small interaction parameter using weak measurements actually corresponds to standard quantum metrology, where the logarithmic derivatives of the final measurement probabilities are proportional to the corresponding weak values. The analysis of the general weak measurement formalism then shows that extreme weak values do not improve the sensitivity. Instead, all final measurements with real weak values have the same sensitivity as a final measurement of the eigenvalues. This result supports the view that real weak values can be interpreted as precise, zero uncertainty estimates of a quantum observable, despite their deviation from the eigenvalues of the corresponding operator.
For unitary transformations, the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of a pure state is given by the uncertainty of the generator in that state. In post-selected metrology, the QFI is given by a modified expression describing conditional quantum statistics of the generator. Here, we show that the conditional generator uncertainties defined by post-selected QFI correspond to Ozawa-Hall uncertainties known from the theoretical analysis of quantum measurements. The post-selected measurement outcome updates the generator uncertainty according to the quantum statistics of that outcome. Enhancements of QFI beyond the maximal uncertainties of the generator eigenvalues are possible because post-selection tends to concentrate the largest part of the initial generator uncertainty in low probability outcomes of the post-selection measurement. Anomalous conditional uncertainties thus explain the extreme sensitivities that can be achieved in post-selected metrology.
The products of weak values of quantum observables are shown to be of value in deriving quantum uncertainty and complementarity relations, for both weak and strong measurement statistics. First, a ``product representation formula'' allows the standard Heisenberg uncertainty relation to be derived from a classical uncertainty relation for complex random variables. We show this formula also leads to strong uncertainty relations for unitary operators and underlies an interpretation of weak values as optimal (complex) estimates of quantum observables. Furthermore, we show that two incompatible observables that are weakly and strongly measured in a weak measurement context obey a complementarity relation under the interchange of these observables, in the form of an upper bound on the product of the corresponding weak values. Moreover, general tradeoff relations between weak purity, quantum purity, and quantum incompatibility, and also between weak and strong joint probability distributions, are obtained based on products of real and imaginary components of weak values, where these relations quantify the degree to which weak probabilities can take anomalous values in a given context.
It is not possible to obtain information about the observable properties of a quantum system without a physical interaction between the system and an external meter. This physical interaction is described by a unitary transformation of the joint quantum state of the system and the meter, which means that the information transfer from the system to the meter depends on the initial quantum coherence of the meter. In the present paper, we analyze the measurement interaction in terms of the changes of the meter state caused by the interaction with the system. The sensitivity of the meter can then be defined by evaluating the distinguishability of meter states for different values of the target observable. It is shown that the sensitivity of the meter requires quantum coherences in the generator observable that determines the magnitude of the backaction of the meter on the system. The tradeoff between measurement resolution and backaction is decided by the relation between sensitivity and quantum coherent uncertainty in the external meter. No matter how macroscopic the device used as a meter is, it must necessarily be quantum coherent in the degrees of freedom that interact with the system being measured.
The evaluation of uncertainties in quantum measurements is problematic since the correct value of an observable between state preparation and measurement is experimentally inaccessible. In Ozawa's formulation of uncertainty relations for quantum measurements, the correct value of an observable is represented by the operator of that observable. Here, I consider the implications of this operator-based assignment of values to individual systems and discuss the relation with weak values and weak measurement statistics.