Optimized quantum control can enhance the performance and noise resilience of quantum metrology. However, the optimization quickly becomes intractable when multiple control operations are applied sequentially. In this work, we propose efficient tensor network algorithms for optimizing strategies of quantum metrology enhanced by a long sequence of control operations. Our approach covers a general and practical scenario where the experimenter applies N−1 interleaved control operations between N queries of the channel to estimate and uses no or bounded ancilla. Tailored to different experimental capabilities, these control operations can be generic quantum channels or variational unitary gates. Numerical experiments show that our algorithm has a good performance in optimizing the metrological strategy for as many as N=100 queries. In particular, our algorithm identifies a strategy that can outperform the state-of-the-art strategy when N is finite but large.
Optimized quantum control can enhance the performance and noise resilience of quantum metrology. However, the optimization quickly becomes intractable when multiple control operations are applied sequentially. In this work, we propose efficient tensor network algorithms for optimizing strategies of quantum metrology enhanced by a long sequence of control operations. Our approach covers a general and practical scenario where the experimenter applies N−1 interleaved control operations between N queries of the channel to estimate and uses no or bounded ancilla. Tailored to different experimental capabilities, these control operations can be generic quantum channels or variational unitary gates. Numerical experiments show that our algorithm has a good performance in optimizing the metrological strategy for as many as N=100 queries. In particular, our algorithm identifies a strategy that can outperform the state-of-the-art strategy when N is finite but large.
Nature imposes fundamental limits on how precisely we can probe the physical world. Quantum metrology is the study of achieving higher precision and accuracy in estimating the physical parameters by harnessing quantum resources. It is considered one of the most promising quantum technologies, offering significant advantages over classical ones in both near‑term and long‑term applications. However, existing theoretical research in quantum metrology often falls short of providing a unified and rigorous understanding of the ultimate precision under realistic experimental limitations on available quantum resources. In this thesis, we conduct a systematic investigation of the optimal precision limits in quantum metrology and identify the metrological strategies that achieve optimality under specified resource constraints. We primarily focus on the single-parameter estimation of quantum processes, a cornerstone task in quantum metrology. We first establish a general framework of strictly optimal quantum metrology using semidefinite programming within the formalism of higher-order quantum operations. This framework reveals a strict hierarchy for the performance of different families of strategies---parallel, sequential, and indefinite-causal-order ones---each subject to specific causal constraints. Our results rigorously demonstrate a quantum metrological advantage of indefinite causal order in finite-dimensional systems, which has recently aroused rapidly growing interest. In realistic scenarios, a fully optimized quantum metrology protocol may be experimentally demanding due to the complexity of state preparation and control. Tailored to practical constraints on the allowed ancilla and control operations, we propose a highly efficient tensor network algorithm to optimize the probe state and a long sequence of control for quantum metrology. When the number of control steps tends to infinity, we develop an asymptotic theory of quantum metrology for achieving the ultimate precision limit---Heisenberg limit---without ancilla. This contrasts with the traditional approach using quantum error correction for metrology that typically requires noiseless and controllable ancilla. Our results pave the way for exploiting the full potential of quantum resources in metrology. In the near term, our methods enable high-precision estimation with limited interaction with the unknown process using experimentally feasible control techniques. In the long term, they lay the foundation for scalable and fault-tolerant quantum metrology.
Abstract We develop an efficient algorithm for determining optimal adaptive quantum estimation protocols with arbitrary quantum control operations between subsequent uses of a probed channel.We introduce a tensor network representation of an estimation strategy, which drastically reduces the time and memory consumption of the algorithm, and allows us to analyze metrological protocols involving up to N = 50 qubit channel uses, whereas the state-of-the-art approaches are limited to N < 5. The method is applied to study the performance of the optimal adaptive metrological protocols in presence of various noise types, including correlated noise.
Estimating multiple unknown parameters simultaneously is essential for practical quantum sensing. However, it faces a fundamental challenge: the optimal strategy for estimating one parameter is often incompatible with that for another, making it impossible to simultaneously achieve the ultimate precision limits for all parameters. Here we develop a general and efficient computational framework that jointly optimizes probe states, control operations, and measurements across different strategy families, including parallel, sequential, and those with indefinite causal order. Our approach provides exact semidefinite-program formulations for several precision bounds, including the Holevo, Nagaoka-Hayashi, and quantum Cramér-Rao bounds. We demonstrate the capabilities of the framework in multiparameter magnetometry and frequency estimation, identifying optimal protocols within each class and revealing a strict hierarchy among the achievable performances of different classes in the multiparameter regime. The framework also directly incorporates resource constraints, such as energy budgets, enabling systematic investigation of experimentally realistic sensing scenarios. Furthermore, we develop a finite-memory optimization method for sequential strategies with restricted ancillary-memory dimension. By decomposing the protocol into initial probe preparation and intermediate control operations, this method provides a practical route to designing resource-constrained sequential sensing schemes. Our work establishes a versatile computational tool for determining fundamental precision limits and designing optimal quantum-sensing protocols in complex multiparameter settings.
Extensive research has been dedicated to the asymptotic theory of quantum metrology, where the goal is to determine the ultimate precision limit of quantum channel estimation when many accesses to the channel are allowed. The ultimate limit has been well established, but in general, a noiseless and controllable ancilla is required for attaining it. Little is known about the metrological performance without noiseless ancillae, which is more relevant in practical circumstances. In this Letter, we present a novel theoretical framework to address this problem, bridging quantum metrology and the asymptotic theory of quantum channels. Leveraging this framework, we prove sufficient conditions for achieving the Heisenberg limit with repeated applications of the channel to be estimated both with and without applying interleaved unitary control operations. For the latter case, we design an algorithm to identify the control operation explicitly.
Quantum metrology is supposed to significantly improve the precision of parameter estimation by utilizing suitable quantum resources. However, the predicted precision can be severely distorted by realistic noises. Here, we propose a control-enhanced quantum metrology scheme to defend against these noises to improve the metrology performance. Our scheme can automatically alter the parameter-encoding dynamics with adjustable controls, thus leading to optimal resultant states that are less sensitive to the noises under consideration. As a demonstration, we numerically apply it to the problem of frequency estimation under several typical Markovian noise channels. By comparing our control-enhanced scheme with the standard scheme and the ancilla-assisted scheme, we show that our scheme performs better and can improve the estimation precision up to around one order of magnitude. Furthermore, we conduct a proof-of-principle experiment in a nuclear magnetic resonance system to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The research here is helpful for current quantum platforms to harness the power of quantum metrology in realistic noise environments.
Abstract We present an efficient tensor-network based algorithm for finding the optimal adaptive quantum channel discrimination strategies inspired by recently developed numerical methods in quantum metrology to find the optimal adaptive channel estimation protocols. We examine the connection between channel discrimination and estimation problems, highlighting in particular an appealing structural similarity between models that admit Heisenberg scaling estimation performance, and models that admit perfect channel discrimination in finite–number of channel uses.