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arXiv:1809.05525 · Physical Review A

Robustness of quantum-enhanced adaptive phase estimation

Pantita Palittapongarnpim, Barry C. Sanders

Published Jul 8, 2019• 25 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We aim to construct tests for evaluating whether policies for adaptive quantum-enhanced metrology are robust against unknown phase noise and are tractable to construct and to execute. Specifically, one of our tests determines scaling of phase-estimate precision with respect to photon number; the other two tests concern resource complexity with respect to the training time required to construct the policy and the execution time for the policy so constructed. The robustness test is performed on quantum-enhanced adaptive phase estimation by simulating the scheme under four phase-noise models corresponding to normal-distribution noise, random-telegraph noise, skew-normal-distribution noise, and log-normal-distribution noise. Control policies are devised either by an evolutionary algorithm under the same noisy conditions, albeit ignorant of its properties, or a Bayesian-based feedback method that assumes no noise. We have introduced an approach to evaluating quantum-control policies for metrology that relies on testing against unusual phase-noise models and accepting that the policies are robust only if scaling of phase-estimate precision beats the standard quantum limit and policy-design resource complexity, in the presence of phase noise, is polynomial in the number of photons.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.100.012106

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We aim to construct tests for evaluating whether policies for adaptive quantum-enhanced metrology are robust against unknown phase noise and are tractable to construct and to execute. Specifically, one of our tests determines scaling of phase-estimate precision with respect to photon number; the other two tests concern resource complexity with respect to the training time required to construct the policy and the execution time for the policy so constructed. The robustness test is performed on quantum-enhanced adaptive phase estimation by simulating the scheme under four phase-noise models corresponding to normal-distribution noise, random-telegraph noise, skew-normal-distribution noise, and log-normal-distribution noise. Control policies are devised either by an evolutionary algorithm under the same noisy conditions, albeit ignorant of its properties, or a Bayesian-based feedback method that assumes no noise. We have introduced an approach to evaluating quantum-control policies for metrology that relies on testing against unusual phase-noise models and accepting that the policies are robust only if scaling of phase-estimate precision beats the standard quantum limit and policy-design resource complexity, in the presence of phase noise, is polynomial in the number of photons.
Reinforcement learning algorithms have been shown to generate procedures for executing quantum control tasks to desired performances. Although reinforcement learning has been effective, its robustness in generating quantum control procedures under general noise condition needs to be tested. Here we consider adaptive quantum-enhanced interferometric phase estimation as a case study in quantum feedback control. The algorithm is determined to deliver a robust quantum-metrological procedure under various phase-noise models when the imprecision surpasses the standard quantum limit. The robustness against unknown environmental variations positions the reinforcement learning as a practical approach for devising quantum control procedures.
The key to successful implementations of quantum technologies is quantum control, whose aim is to steer quantum dynamics such that the desired outcome is achieved. Quantum control techniques rely on models of the quantum dynamics to generate control policies that attain the control targets. In a practical situation, the dynamic model may not match the dynamic in the implementation, and this mismatch can lead to reduced performance or even a failed control procedure. Data-driven control has been proposed as an alternative to model-based control design. In this approach, measurement outcomes from the system are used to generate a policy, which enables robust control without the need for a noise model. The potential for data-driven quantum control has been demonstrated in the problem of quantum-enhanced adaptive phase estimation. However, the performance and robustness of data-driven policies have never been compared with performance and robustness of model-based control techniques. In this thesis, we aim to determine the advantages and disadvantages of model-based and data-driven policy generation using a simulated quantum-enhanced adaptive phase estimation as an example of a quantum control task. In the process, we explore the connection between an adaptive quantum-enhanced metrological procedure to a decision-making process, which is an alternative model of the dynamic during the control task. We also devise a robust search algorithm based on an evolutionary algorithm that is ignorant of the properties of the phase noise but is still able to deliver quantum-enhanced precision. We then compare the performances of feedback control policies designed using Bayesian inference, which is a model-based technique, to policies generated using this robust evolutionary algorithm on their performance in both noisy and noiseless interferometers. We also assess the resources used in generating and implementing a control policy and use the complexities of the time and space costs as parts of selecting a practical control procedure.
We develop a reinforcement-learning algorithm to construct a feedback policy that delivers quantum-enhanced interferometric-phase estimation up to 100 photons in a noisy environment. We ensure scalability of the calculations by distributing the workload in a cluster and by vectorizing time-critical operations. We also improve running time by introducing accept-reject criteria to terminate calculation when a successful result is reached. Furthermore, we make the learning algorithm robust to noise by fine-tuning how the objective function is evaluated. The results show the importance and relevance of well-designed classical machine learning algorithms in quantum physics problems.
Abstract Quantum phase estimation is a paradigmatic problem in quantum sensing and metrology. Here we show that adaptive methods based on classical machine learning algorithms can be used to enhance the precision of quantum phase estimation when noisy non-entangled qubits are used as sensors. We employ the Differential Evolution (DE) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms to this task and we identify the optimal feedback policies which minimize the Holevo variance. We benchmark these schemes with respect to scenarios that include Gaussian and Random Telegraph fluctuations as well as reduced Ramsey-fringe visibility due to decoherence. We discuss their robustness against noise in connection with real experimental setups such as Mach–Zehnder interferometry with optical photons and Ramsey interferometry in trapped ions, superconducting qubits and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond.
Phase estimation is known to be a robust method for single-qubit gate calibration in quantum computers, while Bayesian estimation is widely used in devising optimal methods for learning in quantum systems. We present a Bayesian method that adaptively chooses a control phase and the time of coherent evolution. The uniqueness of the approach is to use analytics to implement an efficient numerical algorithm that offers exact calculation of the Bayesian probability and associated utility functions, even in the presence of noise. We determine the utility of control parameter values using functions of the prior probability of the phase that quantify expected knowledge gain in terms of either expected narrowing of the posterior or expected information gain. We find that by maximizing the of expected gain we obtain phase estimates having standard deviation a factor of 1.43 larger than the Heisenberg limit using a classical sequential strategy for noise-free experiments. In the presence of dephasing, we find near-optimal performance with respect to the Cramér-Rao bound. We also demonstrate some robustness of the estimates to noise that is not accounted for in the model of the estimator, making the methods suitable for calibrating operations in quantum computers. The rate of gain can be adjusted to account for times in the experiment other than the coherent evolution of the unknown phase, such as times required for state preparation or readout. The combined features of the method make it well suited to single-qubit gate calibration in trapped-ion or neutral atom experiments and promises a wide range of other applications by offering near-optimal phase estimation that straightforwardly accounts for experimental imperfections.
In an idealistic setting, quantum metrology protocols allow to sense physical parameters with mean squared error that scales as 1/N21/N^21/N2 with the number of particles involved---substantially surpassing the 1/N1/N1/N-scaling characteristic to classical statistics. A natural question arises, whether such an impressive enhancement persists when one takes into account the decoherence effects that are unavoidable in any real-life implementation. In this thesis, we resolve a major part of this issue by describing general techniques that allow to quantify the attainable precision in metrological schemes in the presence of uncorrelated noise. We show that the abstract geometrical structure of a quantum channel describing the noisy evolution of a single particle dictates then critical bounds on the ultimate quantum enhancement. Our results prove that an infinitesimal amount of noise is enough to restrict the precision to scale classically in the asymptotic NNN limit, and thus constrain the maximal improvement to a constant factor. Although for low numbers of particles the decoherence may be ignored, for large NNN the presence of noise heavily alters the form of both optimal states and measurements attaining the ultimate resolution. However, the established bounds are then typically achievable with use of techniques natural to current experiments. In this work, we thoroughly introduce the necessary concepts and mathematical tools lying behind metrological tasks, including both frequentist and Bayesian estimation theory frameworks. We provide examples of applications of the methods presented to typical qubit noise models, yet we also discuss in detail the phase estimation tasks in Mach-Zehnder interferometry both in the classical and quantum setting---with particular emphasis given to photonic losses while analysing the impact of decoherence.