An analysis of interferometric measurements using the quantum phase formalism

David Rimmer, WJ Fitzgerald

Martin Suda

Antonio A. Valido, Juan José García‐Ripoll

In this paper we study the phase sensitivity of generic linear interferometric schemes using Gaussian resources and measurements. Our formalism is based on the Fisher information. This allows us to separate the contributions of the measurement scheme, the experimental imperfections, and auxiliary systems. We demonstrate the strength of this formalism using a broad class of multimode Gaussian states that includes well-known results from single- and two-mode metrology scenarios. Using this, we prove that input coherent states or squeezing improve upon the nonclassical states proposed in preceding boson-sampling-inspired phase-estimation schemes. We also develop a polychromatic interferometric protocol, demonstrating an enhanced sensitivity with respect to two-mode squeezed-vacuum states, for which the ideal homodyne detection is formally shown to be optimal.

Antonio Di Lisi, Silvio De Siena, Fabrizio Illuminati

We investigate the effects of spontaneous scattering on the evolution of entanglement of two atomic samples, probed by phase-shift measurements on optical beams interacting with both samples. We develop a formalism of conditional quantum evolutions and present a wave function analysis implemented in numerical simulations of the state vector dynamics. This method allows us to track the evolution of entanglement and to compare it with the predictions obtained when spontaneous scattering is neglected. We provide numerical evidence that the interferometric scheme to entangle atomic samples is only marginally affected by the presence of spontaneous scattering and should thus be robust even in more realistic situations.

F. J. Duarte

Päivi Törmä, Stig Stenholm

We consider a generic interferometric set-up as a device to record interference fringes. The system is characterized by two variable transmission beam-splitters. A coherent signal is measured and its noise properties are manipulated by mixing in a squeezed vacuum through the second input port. The performance is optimized either by minimizing the noise at the dark and the light fringes, or alternatively by keeping it below the standard quantum limit for all phase angles observed. The analysis is carried out using a quantum optical network formalism generalizing the classical Jones calculus. The results obtained are interpreted and explained using the Wigner function for the output signals.