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arXiv:1911.08359

The Holevo Cramér-Rao bound is at most thrice the Helstrom version

Mankei Tsang

Published Nov 19, 2019• 40 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In quantum metrology, the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound has attracted renewed interest in recent years due to its superiority over the Helstrom Cramér-Rao bound and its asymptotic attainability for multi-parameter estimation. Its evaluation, however, is often much more difficult than that of the Helstrom version, calling into question the actual improvement offered by the Holevo CRB and whether it is worth the trouble. Here I prove that the Holevo bound is at most thrice the Helstrom version, so the improvement must be limited. The result also shows that the Helstrom version remains a pretty good bound even for multiple parameters and can be approached asymptotically to within a factor of 3.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1911.08359

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In quantum metrology, the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound has attracted renewed interest in recent years due to its superiority over the Helstrom Cramér-Rao bound and its asymptotic attainability for multi-parameter estimation. Its evaluation, however, is often much more difficult than that of the Helstrom version, calling into question the actual improvement offered by the Holevo CRB and whether it is worth the trouble. Here I prove that the Holevo bound is at most thrice the Helstrom version, so the improvement must be limited. The result also shows that the Helstrom version remains a pretty good bound even for multiple parameters and can be approached asymptotically to within a factor of 3.
We formulate multiparameter quantum estimation in the parametric and semiparametric setting. While the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) requires no substantial modifications in moving from the former to the latter, we generalize the Helstrom CRB appropriately. We show that the Holevo CRB cannot be greater than twice the generalized Helstrom CRB. We also present a tighter, intermediate, bound. Finally, we show that for parameters encoded in the first moments of a Gaussian state there always exists a Gaussian measurement that gives a classical Fisher information matrix that is one-half of the quantum Fisher information matrix.
Multiparameter quantum metrology is ubiquitous in physics, yet it remains fundamentally challenging. As reflected by the uncertainty principle, distinct unknown parameters generally cannot be estimated simultaneously at their individual ultimate precision limits. The quantum Cramér--Rao bound (QCRB) and the Holevo Cramér--Rao bound (HCRB) represent the ultimate precision bounds in multiparameter quantum metrology. Here we introduce new formulations of these bounds based on quantum state purification. We show that, for any mixed state, their values are directly related to those of its purification, provided that nuisance parameters are introduced on the environmental system. Leveraging this connection, we develop a remarkably simple method for asymptotically attaining either the HCRB or twice the QCRB for arbitrary mixed states, using random purification channels and individual measurements.
Only with the simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters are the quantum aspects of metrology fully revealed. This is due to the incompatibility of observables. The fundamental bound for multiparameter quantum estimation is the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound (HCRB) whose evaluation has so far remained elusive. For finite-dimensional systems we recast its evaluation as a semidefinite program, with reduced size for rank-deficient states. We show that it also satisfies strong duality. We use this result to study phase and loss estimation in optical interferometry and three-dimensional magnetometry with noisy multiqubit systems. For the former, we show that, in some regimes, it is possible to attain the HCRB with the optimal (single-copy) measurement for phase estimation. For the latter, we show a nontrivial interplay between the HCRB and incompatibility and provide numerical evidence that projective single-copy measurements attain the HCRB in the noiseless 2-qubit case.
Due to the potential of quantum advantage to surpass the standard quantum limit (SQL), the nonlinear interferometers have garnered significant attention from researchers in the field of precision measurement. However, many practical applications require multi-parameter estimation. In this work, we discuss the precision limit of multi-parameter estimation of pure Gaussian states based on nonlinear interferometers, and derive the Holevo Cramér-Rao Bound (HCRB) for the case where both modes undergo displacement estimation. Furthermore, we compare our analytical results with the quantum Cramér-Rao Bound based on the symmetric logarithmic derivative (SLD-CRB), and with the result of the dual homodyne measurement. Through numerical analysis, we find that the HCRB equals the result of the dual homodyne measurement, whereas SLD-CRB is not saturable at small squeezed parameters. Therefore, this indicates that the HCRB is tight. Additionally, we provide intuitive analysis and visual representation of our numerical results in phase space.
Due to the potential of quantum advantage to surpass the standard quantum limit (SQL), nonlinear interferometers have garnered significant attention from researchers in the field of precision measurement. However, many practical applications require multiparameter estimation. In this work, we discuss the precision limit of multi-parameter estimation of pure Gaussian states based on nonlinear interferometers, and derive the Holevo Cramér−Rao bound (HCRB) for the case where both modes undergo displacement estimation. Furthermore, we compare our analytical results with the quantum Cramér−Rao bound based on the symmetric logarithmic derivative (SLD-CRB), and with the result of the dual homodyne measurement. Through numerical analysis, we find that the HCRB equals the result of the dual homodyne measurement, whereas SLD-CRB is not saturable at small squeezed parameters. Therefore, this indicates that the HCRB is tight. Additionally, we provide intuitive analysis and visual representation of our numerical results in phase space.
Holevo bound plays an important role in quantum metrology as it sets the ultimate limit for multi-parameter estimations, which can be asymptotically achieved. Except for some trivial cases, the Holevo bound is implicitly defined and formulated with the help of weight matrices. Here we report the first instance of an intrinsic Holevo bound, namely, without any reference to weight matrices, in a nontrivial case. Specifically, we prove that the Holevo bound for estimating two parameters of a qubit is equivalent to the joint constraint imposed by two quantum Cramér–Rao bounds corresponding to symmetric and right logarithmic derivatives. This weightless form of Holevo bound enables us to determine the precise range of independent entries of the mean-square error matrix, i.e., two variances and one covariance that quantify the precisions of the estimation, as illustrated by different estimation models. Our result sheds some new light on the relations between the Holevo bound and quantum Cramér–Rao bounds. Possible generalizations are discussed.