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arXiv:1911.11036

Upper bounds on the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound for multiparameter quantum parametric and semiparametric estimation

Francesco Albarelli, Mankei Tsang, Animesh Datta

Published Nov 25, 2019• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1911.11036

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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.
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 generalize the approach by Braunstein and Caves, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3439 (1994)]. to quantum multiparameter estimation with general states. We derive a matrix bound of the classical Fisher information matrix due to each measurement operator. The saturation of all these bounds results in the saturation of the matrix Helstrom Cram\'er-Rao bound. Remarkably, the saturation of the matrix bound is equivalent to the saturation of the scalar bound with respect to any given positive definite weight matrix. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for the optimal measurements that give rise to the Helstrom Cram\'er-Rao bound associated with a general quantum state. To saturate the Helstrom bound with separable measurements or collective measurement entangling only a small number of identical states, we find it is necessary for the symmetric logarithmic derivatives to commute on the support of the state. As an important application of our results, we construct several local optimal measurements for the problem of estimating the three-dimensional separation of two incoherent optical point sources.
The quantum Cramér-Rao bound constrains the precision of parameter estimation through the symmetric logarithmic derivative quantum Fisher information (SLD QFI). It is asymptotically achievable for regular single-parameter estimation models, but generally not in the multiparameter setting, where optimal measurements for different parameters may be incompatible. For multiparameter estimation, allowing collective measurements, the corresponding asymptotically achievable precision limit is the Holevo bound, whose standard formulation is an optimization over auxiliary Hermitian operators. We bridge this apparent difference in formulation by giving an exact characterization of the Holevo bound in terms of a family of QFIs interpolating between the SLD and right logarithmic derivative (RLD) QFIs. Specifically, for any locally identifiable finite-dimensional estimation problem, we prove that the operator-feasible region in the standard variational definition of the Holevo bound coincides with the intersection of the regions defined by the corresponding Cramér-Rao-type matrix constraints for the entire QFI family. This characterization also applies to rank-deficient states and does not require any prior choice of weight matrix. Consequently, the conventional weight-dependent Holevo bound is recovered by minimizing the corresponding weighted cost over the resulting common feasible region.
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.
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.
Abstract Multiparameter quantum estimation theory aims to determine simultaneously the ultimate precision of all parameters contained in the state of a given quantum system. Determining this ultimate precision depends on the quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) which is essential to obtaining the quantum Cramér–Rao bound. This is the main motivation of this work which concerns the computation of the analytical expression of the QFIM. Inspired by the results reported in J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 52 035304 (2019), the general formalism of the multiparameter quantum estimation theory of quantum Gaussian states in terms of their first and second moments is given. We give the analytical formulas of right logarithmic derivative and symmetric logarithmic derivative operators. Then we derive the general expressions of the corresponding quantum Fisher information matrices. We also derive an explicit expression of the condition which ensures the saturation of the quantum Cramér–Rao bound in estimating several parameters. Finally, we examine some examples to clarify the use of our results.