Abstract Quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) is a core concept in theoretical quantum metrology due to the significant importance of quantum Cramér–Rao bound in quantum parameter estimation. However, studies in recent years have revealed wide connections between QFIM and other aspects of quantum mechanics, including quantum thermodynamics, quantum phase transition, entanglement witness, quantum speed limit and non-Markovianity. These connections indicate that QFIM is more than a concept in quantum metrology, but rather a fundamental quantity in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we summarize the properties and existing calculation techniques of QFIM for various cases, and review the development of QFIM in some aspects of quantum mechanics apart from quantum metrology. On the other hand, as the main application of QFIM, the second part of this paper reviews the quantum multiparameter Cramér–Rao bound, its attainability condition and the associated optimal measurements. Moreover, recent developments in a few typical scenarios of quantum multiparameter estimation and the quantum advantages are also thoroughly discussed in this part.
Abstract Multiparameter quantum estimation theory aims to determine simultaneously the ultimate precision of all parameters contained in the state of a given quantum system. Determining this ultimate precision depends on the quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) which is essential to obtaining the quantum Cramér–Rao bound. This is the main motivation of this work which concerns the computation of the analytical expression of the QFIM. Inspired by the results reported in J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 52 035304 (2019), the general formalism of the multiparameter quantum estimation theory of quantum Gaussian states in terms of their first and second moments is given. We give the analytical formulas of right logarithmic derivative and symmetric logarithmic derivative operators. Then we derive the general expressions of the corresponding quantum Fisher information matrices. We also derive an explicit expression of the condition which ensures the saturation of the quantum Cramér–Rao bound in estimating several parameters. Finally, we examine some examples to clarify the use of our results.
Multiparameter quantum estimation faces two fundamental obstacles: sloppiness, i.e., anisotropy of the quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) that renders some parameter directions insensitive, and incompatibility, the non-commutativity of optimal measurements for different parameters. The trade-off bound
CT captures their joint impact on precision, but it has remained unclear how the distribution of incompatibility across parameter planes affects its overall cost. Here we separate the total amount of incompatibility from its location. We introduce a dimensionless quantity
Gn(F) that measures the alignment between the incompatibility distribution and the eigenvalues of the QFIM, and show how the Frobenius scale of the incompatibility contribution factorizes. We obtain a bound and prove the incompatibility cost lies between this bound and a rank-dependent multiple thereof. We also prove that at fixed sloppiness, or equivalently fixed Fisher volume, concentrating incompatibility into a single parameter plane reduces the optimized trade-off cost because the Fisher geometry can then be reshaped to allocate more Fisher area to that plane. A qutrit
SU(2) encoding numerically confirms that states with larger incompatibility strength can nevertheless incur a smaller cost if the matching factor
G is sufficiently small. Our results establish that the distribution of incompatibility relative to the Fisher eigenbasis is a central diagnostic for multiparameter estimation, beyond the total incompatibility strength.