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arXiv:2404.15548 · Physical Review A

Quantum metrology of rotations with mixed spin states

Eduardo Serrano-Ensástiga, Chryssomalis Chryssomalakos, John Martin

Published Feb 20, 2025• 10 citations
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Abstract

The efficiency of a quantum metrology protocol can be significantly diminished by the interaction of the system with its environment, leading to a loss of purity and, as a result, a mixed state for the probing system. An example is the measurement of a magnetic field through the rotation of a spin that is subject to decoherence due to its coupling to a surrounding spin or bosonic bath. In this work we define mixed optimal quantum rotosensors (OQRs) as mixed spin-$j$ states that achieve maximum sensitivity to estimate infinitesimal rotations, when the rotation axis is unknown. We study two scenarios, where the probe states saturate the averaged fidelity or the averaged quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound, the latter giving the ultimate sensitivity. We find that mixed OQRs can achieve sensitivity equal to that of pure states and are obtained by mixing states from linear subspaces of anticoherent states. We present several examples of mixed OQRs and their associated anticoherent subspaces. We also show that OQRs maximize entanglement in a specific sense, preserving the known relation between entanglement and optimal rotation sensitivity for pure states, even in the context of mixed states. Our results highlight the interconnection between quantum metrology of rotations, anticoherence, and entanglement in mixed spin states.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.111.022435

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The efficiency of a quantum metrology protocol can be significantly diminished by the interaction of the system with its environment, leading to a loss of purity and, as a result, a mixed state for the probing system. An example is the measurement of a magnetic field through the rotation of a spin that is subject to decoherence due to its coupling to a surrounding spin or bosonic bath. In this work we define mixed optimal quantum rotosensors (OQRs) as mixed spin-jjj states that achieve maximum sensitivity to estimate infinitesimal rotations, when the rotation axis is unknown. We study two scenarios, where the probe states saturate the averaged fidelity or the averaged quantum Cram'er-Rao bound, the latter giving the ultimate sensitivity. We find that mixed OQRs can achieve sensitivity equal to that of pure states and are obtained by mixing states from linear subspaces of anticoherent states. We present several examples of mixed OQRs and their associated anticoherent subspaces. We also show that OQRs maximize entanglement in a specific sense, preserving the known relation between entanglement and optimal rotation sensitivity for pure states, even in the context of mixed states. Our results highlight the interconnection between quantum metrology of rotations, anticoherence, and entanglement in mixed spin states.
Coherent and anticoherent states of spin systems up to spin j=2 are known to be optimal in order to detect rotations by a known angle but unknown rotation axis. These optimal quantum rotosensors are characterized by minimal fidelity, given by the overlap of a state before and after a rotation, averaged over all directions in space. We calculate a closed-form expression for the average fidelity in terms of anticoherent measures, valid for arbitrary values of the quantum number j . We identify optimal rotosensors (i) for arbitrary rotation angles in the case of spin quantum numbers up to j=7/2 and (ii) for small rotation angles in the case of spin quantum numbers up to j=5 . The closed-form expression we derive allows us to explain the central role of anticoherence measures in the problem of optimal detection of rotation angles for arbitrary values of j .
Abstract A multitude of engineering and scientific applications require the estimation of an unknown axis’ rotation, known as the reference frame alignment problem. These problems can be categorized using the quantum Cramer–Rao bound. Detecting rotations is typically focused on smaller angles, as errors are more significant in this range. Therefore, selecting the optimal combination of measurement techniques based on a quantum entangled state for a particular setup is a critical step. This paper proposes a linear combination of anticoherence and coherence measures based on the generalized GHZ entanglement states. The anticoherence measures, optimizes the spin system’s average fidelity in detecting rotated states, while the overlap between states in any spin number is minimal. The optimal quantum rotosensors are characterized by the minimal average fidelity given by the overlap before and after averaging over all directions. The individual subsystems’ states have substantial overlap with GHZ states, making the generalized GHZ state the entanglement quantum spin-j state with coherence decay rate ϵ beneficial in finding the optimal rotation detection on noncoherent entanglement state.
The quantum Fisher information of a quantum state with respect to a certain parameter quantifies the sensitivity of the quantum state to changes in that parameter. Maximizing the quantum Fisher information is essential for achieving the optimal estimation precision of quantum sensors. A typical quantum sensor involves a qubit(e.g. a spin-1/2) probe undergoing an unknown rotation, here the unknown rotation angle is the parameter to be estimated. A well known limitation is that if the rotation axis is unknown, the maximal quantum Fisher information is impossible to attain. This limitation has been lifted recently by leveraging entanglement between the probe qubit and an ancilla qubit. Namely, through measurement of the ancilla after the axis is revealed, one can prepare the probe that is optimal for any unknown rotation axis. This proposal, however, works only for a spin-1/2. Considering large spin probes can achieve a larger quantum Fisher information, offering enhanced metrological advantage, we here utilize the entanglement between a large spin probe and an ancilla to achieve optimal quantum Fisher information for estimating the rotation angle, without prior knowledge of the rotation axis. Different from the previous spin-1/2 case, achieving the optimal precision with large spins generally requires post-selection, resulting in a success probability dependent on the dimension of the Hilbert space. Furthermore, we extend the encoding state from the maximally entangled case to general entangled states, showing that optimal metrology can still be achieved with a certain success probability.
We look for optimal quantum rotosensors, i.e., quantum spin states that are optimal in detecting rotations by a given angle. The exact quantity to be minimized is the probability that the rotated state projects onto the original one, averaged uniformly over all rotation axes. We show analytically that, for small rotation angles, the solution is given by anticoherent states. Numerical analysis shows that, for spin s=1s=1s=1 and 3/23/23/2, there exists, in each case, a critical rotation angle beyond which the minimum is instead achieved by the coherent states, the transition between the two being discontinuous. For s=2s=2s=2, a third degenerate minimum appears in between the above two, consisting of pairs of antipodal points, regardless of the angle between their axes. We also determine the worst rotosensors, i.e., those states that maximize the above quantity; interestingly, the same set of states shows up but for different ranges of the rotation angle.
The goal of quantum metrology is to improve measurements' sensitivities by harnessing quantum resources. Metrologists often aim to maximize the quantum Fisher information, which bounds the measurement setup's sensitivity. In studies of fundamental limits on metrology, a paradigmatic setup features a qubit (spin-half system) subject to an unknown rotation. One obtains the maximal quantum Fisher information about the rotation if the spin begins in a state that maximizes the variance of the rotation-inducing operator. If the rotation axis is unknown, however, no optimal single-qubit sensor can be prepared. Inspired by simulations of closed timelike curves, we circumvent this limitation. We obtain the maximum quantum Fisher information about a rotation angle, regardless of the unknown rotation axis. To achieve this result, we initially entangle the probe qubit with an ancilla qubit. Then, we measure the pair in an entangled basis, obtaining more information about the rotation angle than any single-qubit sensor can achieve. We demonstrate this metrological advantage using a two-qubit superconducting quantum processor. Our measurement approach achieves a quantum advantage, outperforming every entanglement-free strategy.
Many protocols require precise rotation measurement. Here we present a general class of states that surpass the shot-noise limit for measuring rotation around arbitrary axes. We then derive a quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound for simultaneously estimating all three parameters of a rotation (e.g., the Euler angles) and discuss states that achieve Heisenberg-limited sensitivities for all parameters; the bound is saturated by ``anticoherent'' states [Zimba, Electron. J. Theor. Phys. 3, 143 (2006)] (we are reluctant to use ``anticoherent'' to describe the states, but the name has become commonplace over the last decade). Anticoherent states have garnered much attention in recent years, and we elucidate a geometrical technique for finding new examples of such states. Finally, we discuss the potential for divergences in multiparameter estimation due to singularities in spherical coordinate systems. Our results are useful for a variety of quantum metrology and quantum communication applications.