Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2209.10731 · Frontiers of Physics

Criticality-based quantum metrology in the presence of decoherence

Wan‐Ting He, Congwei Lu, Yi‐Xuan Yao, Hai‐Yuan Zhu, Qing Ai

Published Apr 18, 2023• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Because quantum critical systems are very sensitive to the variation of parameters around the quantum phase transition (QPT), quantum criticality has been presented as an efficient resource for metrology. In this paper, we address the issue whether the divergent feature of the inverted variance is realizable in the presence of noise when approaching the QPT. Taking the quantum Rabi model (QRM) as an example, we obtain the analytical result for the inverted variance with single-photon relaxation. We show that the inverted variance may be convergent in time due to the noise. Since the precision of the metrology is very sensitive to the noise, as a remedy, we propose squeezing the initial state to improve the precision under decoherence. In addition, we also investigate the criticality-based metrology under the influence of the two-photon relaxation. Strikingly, although the maximum inverted variance still manifests a power-law dependence on the energy gap, the exponent is positive and depends on the dimensionless coupling strength. This observation implies that the criticality may not enhance but weaken the precision in the presence of two-photon relaxation, due to the non-linearity introduced by the two-photon relaxation.

DOI
10.1007/s11467-023-1278-2

Related papers

Globalized critical quantum metrology in dynamics of quantum Rabi model by auxiliary nonlinear term

Qiu-Yi Chen, Feng Qiao, Zu-Jian Ying

Quantum Rabi model (QRM) is a fundamental model for light-matter interactions, the finite-component quantum phase transition (QPT) in the QRM has established a paradigmatic application for critical quantum metrology (CQM). However, such a paradigmatic application is restricted to a local regime of the QPT which has only a single critical point. In this work we propose a globalized CQM in the QRM by introducing an auxiliary nonlinear term which is realizable and can extend the critical point to a continuous critical regime. As a consequence, a high measurement precision is globally available over the entire coupling regime from the original critical point of the QRM down to the weak-coupling limit, as demonstrated by the globally accessible diverging quantum Fisher information in dynamics. We illustrate a measurement scheme by quadrature dynamics, with globally criticality-enhanced inverted variance as well as the scaling relation with respect to finite frequencies. In particular, we find that the globally high measurement precisions still survive in the presence of decoherence. Our proposal paves a way to break the local limitation of QPT of the QRM in CQM and enables a broader application, with implications of applicability in realistic situation.

quant-pharXiv:2511.14946•Physical Review A•Nov 20, 2025•0 citations

Mind the Gap: Anti-Critical Quantum Metrology

George Mihailescu, Karol Gietka

Critical quantum metrology exploits the dramatic growth of the quantum Fisher information near quantum phase transitions to enhance the precision of parameter estimation. This enhancement is commonly associated with a closing energy gap, which causes the characteristic timescales for adiabatic preparation or relaxation to diverge with increasing system size. As a consequence, the apparent growth of the quantum Fisher information largely reflects the increasing evolution time induced by critical slowing down rather than a genuine improvement in metrological performance, thereby limiting the practical usefulness of such protocols. Here we show that the relationship between energy gaps, quantum correlations, and achievable precision in interacting quantum systems can be far more subtle. In particular, quantum-enhanced sensitivity can also emerge when the energy gap increases, eliminating critical slowing down and enabling substantially faster relaxation dynamics. Although the corresponding quantum Fisher information may decrease due to the shorter evolution time, the resulting precision can nevertheless remain quantum-enhanced. Building on this insight, we introduce an anti-critical quantum metrology scheme in which quantum-enhanced precision arises while the energy gap grows. We illustrate this mechanism using the quantum Rabi model, thereby identifying a route to metrological advantage that avoids the slow dynamics associated with conventional criticality.

quant-pharXiv:2602.03675•Feb 4, 2026•0 citations

Bath-engineering technique for criticality-based quantum metrology with amplitude noise

R. Y. Chen, Yi-Xuan Yao, Wan‐Ting He +2 more

Quantum critical systems are extremely sensitive to parameter variation near the critical point. Moreover, the derivatives with respect to the order parameter may exhibit divergence. This quantum criticality is widely utilized to enhance the performance of quantum metrology. In this study, we take the dissipative quantum Rabi model (QRM) as an example and use the bath-engineering technique to simulate the dissipative QRM to explore the impact of the quantum criticality on the quantum metrology under dissipation. We numerically calculate the dynamics of the inverse variance of the dissipative QRM around the critical point by using the quantum-simulation method and compare our results with those obtained by the numerically exact hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM). Our simulations show that in the case of the strong dissipation or the high temperature, the precision does not exhibit divergence when approaching the point of the quantum phase transition, and the enhancement of quantum metrology by quantum criticality is relatively limited. More importantly, the quantum-simulation method based on the bath-engineering technique can accurately simulate the dynamical evolution of the critical system and consumes significantly fewer resources as compared with the HEOM. Thus, it can be an alternative solution for investigating the dynamical evolution of larger critical systems for quantum metrology.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Aug 1, 2025•3 citations

Globalized nonlinear critical quantum metrology using the two-photon Rabi-Stark model

Zu‐Jian Ying

Squeezing as a quantum resource for quantum metrology is robust against decoherence and dissipation, while the conventional nonlinear two-photon quantum Rabi model (QRM) provides a squeezing resource immune to the divergence problem of the preparation time of the probe state (PTPS). However, the critical point of the two-photon QRM is locally restricted to one single point, which hinders a wider application. In the present work we propose to combine the Stark coupling with the two-photon QRM to realize a tunable critical point so that the nonlinear critical quantum metrology can be globalized. As demonstrated by the diverging quantum Fisher information (QFI) the protocol enables us to acquire a high measurement precision in a wide range of coupling parameters rather than locally at a single critical point. Moreover, we find that the QFI not only manifests criticality but also exhibits universality. As a particular merit of our protocol, a strong squeezing can be globally retained as the leading quantum resource, while at the same time the PTPS remains in a finite order.

arXiv:2506.03379•Physical Review A•Nov 24, 2025•3 citations

Critical Quantum Metrology with a Finite-Component Quantum Phase Transition

Louis Garbe, Matteo Bina, Arne Keller +2 more

Physical systems close to a quantum phase transition exhibit a divergent susceptibility, suggesting that an arbitrarily high precision may be achieved by exploiting quantum critical systems as probes to estimate a physical parameter. However, such an improvement in sensitivity is counterbalanced by the closing of the energy gap, which implies a critical slowing down and an inevitable growth of the protocol duration. Here, we design different metrological protocols that exploit the superradiant phase transition of the quantum Rabi model, a finite-component system composed of a single two-level atom interacting with a single bosonic mode. We show that, in spite of the critical slowing down, critical quantum optical probes can achieve a quantum-enhanced time scaling of the sensitivity in frequency-estimation protocols.

arXiv:1910.00604•Physical Review Letters•Mar 27, 2020•241 citations

Critical Quantum Metrology in the Non-Linear Quantum Rabi Model

Zu‐Jian Ying, Simone Felicetti, Gang Liu +1 more

The quantum Rabi model (QRM) with linear coupling between light mode and qubit exhibits the analog of a second-order phase transition for vanishing mode frequency which allows for criticality-enhanced quantum metrology in a few-body system. We show that the QRM including a nonlinear coupling term exhibits much higher measurement precisions due to its first-order-like phase transition at finite frequency, avoiding the detrimental slowing-down effect close to the critical point of the linear QRM. When a bias term is added to the Hamiltonian, the system can be used as a fluxmeter or magnetometer if implemented in circuit QED platforms.

arXiv:2206.08410•Entropy•Jul 22, 2022•54 citations
Because quantum critical systems are very sensitive to the variation of parameters around the quantum phase transition (QPT), quantum criticality has been presented as an efficient resource for metrology. In this paper, we address the issue whether the divergent feature of the inverted variance is realizable in the presence of noise when approaching the QPT. Taking the quantum Rabi model (QRM) as an example, we obtain the analytical result for the inverted variance with single-photon relaxation. We show that the inverted variance may be convergent in time due to the noise. Since the precision of the metrology is very sensitive to the noise, as a remedy, we propose squeezing the initial state to improve the precision under decoherence. In addition, we also investigate the criticality-based metrology under the influence of the two-photon relaxation. Strikingly, although the maximum inverted variance still manifests a power-law dependence on the energy gap, the exponent is positive and depends on the dimensionless coupling strength. This observation implies that the criticality may not enhance but weaken the precision in the presence of two-photon relaxation, due to the non-linearity introduced by the two-photon relaxation.
Quantum Rabi model (QRM) is a fundamental model for light-matter interactions, the finite-component quantum phase transition (QPT) in the QRM has established a paradigmatic application for critical quantum metrology (CQM). However, such a paradigmatic application is restricted to a local regime of the QPT which has only a single critical point. In this work we propose a globalized CQM in the QRM by introducing an auxiliary nonlinear term which is realizable and can extend the critical point to a continuous critical regime. As a consequence, a high measurement precision is globally available over the entire coupling regime from the original critical point of the QRM down to the weak-coupling limit, as demonstrated by the globally accessible diverging quantum Fisher information in dynamics. We illustrate a measurement scheme by quadrature dynamics, with globally criticality-enhanced inverted variance as well as the scaling relation with respect to finite frequencies. In particular, we find that the globally high measurement precisions still survive in the presence of decoherence. Our proposal paves a way to break the local limitation of QPT of the QRM in CQM and enables a broader application, with implications of applicability in realistic situation.
Critical quantum metrology exploits the dramatic growth of the quantum Fisher information near quantum phase transitions to enhance the precision of parameter estimation. This enhancement is commonly associated with a closing energy gap, which causes the characteristic timescales for adiabatic preparation or relaxation to diverge with increasing system size. As a consequence, the apparent growth of the quantum Fisher information largely reflects the increasing evolution time induced by critical slowing down rather than a genuine improvement in metrological performance, thereby limiting the practical usefulness of such protocols. Here we show that the relationship between energy gaps, quantum correlations, and achievable precision in interacting quantum systems can be far more subtle. In particular, quantum-enhanced sensitivity can also emerge when the energy gap increases, eliminating critical slowing down and enabling substantially faster relaxation dynamics. Although the corresponding quantum Fisher information may decrease due to the shorter evolution time, the resulting precision can nevertheless remain quantum-enhanced. Building on this insight, we introduce an anti-critical quantum metrology scheme in which quantum-enhanced precision arises while the energy gap grows. We illustrate this mechanism using the quantum Rabi model, thereby identifying a route to metrological advantage that avoids the slow dynamics associated with conventional criticality.
Quantum critical systems are extremely sensitive to parameter variation near the critical point. Moreover, the derivatives with respect to the order parameter may exhibit divergence. This quantum criticality is widely utilized to enhance the performance of quantum metrology. In this study, we take the dissipative quantum Rabi model (QRM) as an example and use the bath-engineering technique to simulate the dissipative QRM to explore the impact of the quantum criticality on the quantum metrology under dissipation. We numerically calculate the dynamics of the inverse variance of the dissipative QRM around the critical point by using the quantum-simulation method and compare our results with those obtained by the numerically exact hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM). Our simulations show that in the case of the strong dissipation or the high temperature, the precision does not exhibit divergence when approaching the point of the quantum phase transition, and the enhancement of quantum metrology by quantum criticality is relatively limited. More importantly, the quantum-simulation method based on the bath-engineering technique can accurately simulate the dynamical evolution of the critical system and consumes significantly fewer resources as compared with the HEOM. Thus, it can be an alternative solution for investigating the dynamical evolution of larger critical systems for quantum metrology.
Squeezing as a quantum resource for quantum metrology is robust against decoherence and dissipation, while the conventional nonlinear two-photon quantum Rabi model (QRM) provides a squeezing resource immune to the divergence problem of the preparation time of the probe state (PTPS). However, the critical point of the two-photon QRM is locally restricted to one single point, which hinders a wider application. In the present work we propose to combine the Stark coupling with the two-photon QRM to realize a tunable critical point so that the nonlinear critical quantum metrology can be globalized. As demonstrated by the diverging quantum Fisher information (QFI) the protocol enables us to acquire a high measurement precision in a wide range of coupling parameters rather than locally at a single critical point. Moreover, we find that the QFI not only manifests criticality but also exhibits universality. As a particular merit of our protocol, a strong squeezing can be globally retained as the leading quantum resource, while at the same time the PTPS remains in a finite order.
Physical systems close to a quantum phase transition exhibit a divergent susceptibility, suggesting that an arbitrarily high precision may be achieved by exploiting quantum critical systems as probes to estimate a physical parameter. However, such an improvement in sensitivity is counterbalanced by the closing of the energy gap, which implies a critical slowing down and an inevitable growth of the protocol duration. Here, we design different metrological protocols that exploit the superradiant phase transition of the quantum Rabi model, a finite-component system composed of a single two-level atom interacting with a single bosonic mode. We show that, in spite of the critical slowing down, critical quantum optical probes can achieve a quantum-enhanced time scaling of the sensitivity in frequency-estimation protocols.
The quantum Rabi model (QRM) with linear coupling between light mode and qubit exhibits the analog of a second-order phase transition for vanishing mode frequency which allows for criticality-enhanced quantum metrology in a few-body system. We show that the QRM including a nonlinear coupling term exhibits much higher measurement precisions due to its first-order-like phase transition at finite frequency, avoiding the detrimental slowing-down effect close to the critical point of the linear QRM. When a bias term is added to the Hamiltonian, the system can be used as a fluxmeter or magnetometer if implemented in circuit QED platforms.