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arXiv:2110.06891

Quantum illumination with non-Gaussian states: Bounds on the minimum error probability using quantum Fisher information

Changsuk Noh, Changhyoup Lee, Su‐Yong Lee

Published Oct 13, 2021• 1 citation
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Abstract

Quantum illumination employs entangled states to detect a weakly reflective target in a thermal bath. The performance of a given entangled state is evaluated from the minimum error probability in the asymptotic limit, which is compared against the optimal coherent state scheme. We derive an upper bound as well as a lower bound on the asymptotic minimum error probability, as functions of the quantum Fisher information. The upper bound can be achieved using a repetitive local strategy. This allows us to compare the optimal performance of definite-photon-number entangled states against that of the coherent states under local strategies. When optimized under the constraint of a fixed total energy, we find that a coherent state outperforms the definite-photon-number entangled state with the same signal energy.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2110.06891

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Quantum illumination employs entangled states to detect a weakly reflective target in a thermal bath. The performance of a given entangled state is evaluated from the minimum error probability in the asymptotic limit, which is compared against the optimal coherent state scheme. We derive an upper bound as well as a lower bound on the asymptotic minimum error probability, as functions of the quantum Fisher information. The upper bound can be achieved using a repetitive local strategy. This allows us to compare the optimal performance of definite-photon-number entangled states against that of the coherent states under local strategies. When optimized under the constraint of a fixed total energy, we find that a coherent state outperforms the definite-photon-number entangled state with the same signal energy.
Quantum illumination employs entangled states to detect a weakly reflecting target in a thermal bath. The performance of a given entangled state is evaluated from the minimum error probability in the asymptotic limit, which is compared against the optimal coherent state scheme. Using a relationship between the minimum error probability and quantum Fisher information, we compare the optimal performance of definite photon-number entangled states against that of coherent states under local repetitive strategies. When optimized under the constraint of a fixed total energy, we find that a coherent state outperforms the definite photon-number entangled states with the same signal energy.
Quantum illumination consists in shining quantum light on a target region immersed in a bright thermal bath with the aim of detecting the presence of a possible low-reflective object. If the signal is entangled with the receiver, then a suitable choice of the measurement offers a gain with respect to the optimal classical protocol employing coherent states. Here, we tackle this detection problem by using quantum estimation techniques to measure the reflectivity parameter of the object, showing an enhancement in the signal-to-noise ratio up to 3 dB with respect to the classical case when implementing only local measurements. Our approach employs the quantum Fisher information to provide an upper bound for the error probability, supplies the concrete estimator saturating the bound, and extends the quantum illumination protocol to non-Gaussian states. As an example, we show how Schrödinger's cat states may be used for quantum illumination.
Quantum illumination takes advantage of quantum entanglement to achieve low error probability for detecting a low reflective object embedded in a noisy thermal bath. The two-mode squeezed state (TMSS), which is a Gaussian state, has been applied to quantum illumination as the detecting states in experiment. The photon-subtracted TMSS has also been proposed to achieve even lower error probability. Here we study quantum illumination with non-Gaussian states generated by photon subtraction and photon addition. Helstrom limit and quantum Chernoff bound are evaluated for comparison between performance of states with the same squeezing strength and with the same signal strength, respectively. Particularly, states generated by asymmetrical coherent superposition of photon subtraction and addition are studied, which are shown by us to have better performance than symmetrical ones. We show that non-Gaussian operations enhance the quantum illumination by introducing both stronger entanglement and signal strength. We then give a strategy on how to choose the optimal states for the best performance in different scenarios.
In quantum illumination (QI), a signal beam initially entangled with an idler beam held at the receiver interrogates a target region bathed in thermal background light. The returned beam is measured jointly with the idler in order to determine whether a weakly reflecting target is present. Using tools from quantum information theory, we derive lower bounds on the average error probability of detecting both specular and fading targets and on the mean squared error of estimating the reflectance of a detected target, which are obeyed by any QI transmitter satisfying a signal energy constraint. For bright thermal backgrounds, we show that the QI system using multiple copies of low-brightness two-mode squeezed vacuum states is nearly optimal. More generally, our results place limits on the best possible performance achievable using QI systems at all wavelengths, and at all signal and background noise levels.
Quantum illumination is a technique for detecting the presence of a target in a noisy environment by means of a quantum probe. We prove that the two-mode squeezed vacuum state is the optimal probe for quantum illumination in the scenario of asymmetric discrimination, where the goal is to minimize the decay rate of the probability of a false positive with a given probability of a false negative. Quantum illumination with two-mode squeezed vacuum states offers a 6 dB advantage in the error probability exponent compared to illumination with coherent states. Whether more advanced quantum illumination strategies may offer further improvements had been a longstanding open question. Our fundamental result proves that nothing can be gained by considering more exotic quantum states, such as, e.g., multimode entangled states. Our proof is based on a fundamental entropic inequality for the noisy quantum Gaussian attenuators. We also prove that without access to a quantum memory, the optimal probes for quantum illumination are the coherent states.
Quantum-enhanced sensing has a goal of enhancing a parameter sensitivity with input quantum states, while quantum illumination has a goal of enhancing a target detection capability with input entangled states in a heavy noise environment. Here we propose a concatenation between quantum-enhanced sensing and quantum illumination that can take quantum advantage over the classical limit. First, phase sensing in an interferometry is connected to a target sensing via quantum Fisher information. Second, the target sensitivity is investigated in noisy quantum-enhanced sensing. Under the same input state energy, for example, NNN-photon entangled states can exhibit better performance than a two-mode squeezed vacuum state and a separable coherent state. Incorporating a photon-number difference measurement, finally, the noisy target sensitivity is connected to a signal-to-noise ratio which is associated with a minimum error probability of discriminating the presence and absence of the target. We show that both the target sensitivity and the signal-to-noise ratio can be enhanced with increasing thermal noise.