Limits of the performance of the information of a direct-detection channel using classical and non-classical states of light

L. Mandeļ

C. Bendjaballah, M. Pourmir

For noiseless binary direct-detection optical channels operating with signals of classical and non-classical properties, the limits of the performance of the information at a low power level are computed. The calculations are performed and compared using two processors, the photon counter and the time intervals receiver.

Edo Waks A

Fumio Kanaya

Recently, considerable interest has emerged in quantum states of light fields other than a classical coherent state. One example of such nonclassical quantum states is the number state which features zero uncertainty for the photon number. Because of this unique property, the number states are promising as information bearing lights in direct-detection optical communications. However, if a channel is lossy, the benefit of using the number state is lessened because random photon deletions due to dissipative effect of the channel introduce inherent uncertainty to the photon number measurement at a receiver. Therefore, even in noiseless optical channels, the lossy effect must be taken into account as an important degradation factor which limits the channel performance. In this paper we compute the capacity of lossy photon channels which utilize the number state light under a certain input constraint. For binary and ternary PAM schemes, we obtain the capacity C (Γ) which is subject to the input constraint that the average number of photons per transmitted symbol can not exceed the fixed number Γ.

А. В. Белинский, Давид Николаевич Клышко

Nico Deshler, Sebastiaan Y. Haffert, Amit Ashok

Discovering exoplanets in orbit around distant stars via direct imaging is fundamentally impeded by the combined effect of optical diffraction and photon shot noise under extreme star-planet contrast. Coronagraphs strive to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of exoplanet signatures by optically suppressing light from the host star while preserving light from the exoplanet. However, it is unclear whether direct-imaging coronagraphs constitute an optimal strategy for attaining fundamental limits relevant to exoplanet discovery. In this work, we first review the quantum information limits of exoplanet detection and localization characterized by (1) the quantum Chernoff exponent for symmetric hypothesis testing, (2) the quantum relative entropy for asymmetric hypothesis testing, and (3) the quantum Fisher information matrix for multiparameter estimation. We demonstrate that coronagraphs designed to completely suppress light in the fundamental mode of the telescope, while perfectly transmitting higher-order orthogonal modes, indeed achieve these limits in the regime of high star-planet contrasts. Furthermore, we formulate coronagraphs as quantum channels, thus generalizing the classical framework of coronagraphy to the quantum setting. Using this framework, we compare the information-theoretic performance of leading coronagraph designs against the quantum limits. Our analysis indicates that quantum-optimal coronagraphs offer enhanced information efficiency in the subdiffraction regime compared to leading coronagraph designs and may significantly expand the domain of accessible exoplanets.