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Annual Meeting Optical Society of America

Ultimate quantum limits on phase measurement

Scott Roger Shepard, Jeffrey H. Shapiro

Published Jan 1, 1988• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In a shot-noise-limited (coherent state) phasesensing interferometer, the root-mean-square (rms) phase error is ~ 1 / N av 1 / 2 where Nav is the average number of detected photons. In an optimized squeezed-state interferometer, the rms phase error goes as 1/Nav. We have considered the phase measurement problem from the viewpoint of quantum estimation theory.1 In particular, for the problem of optimum phase-shift estimation from observation of a single mode of the radiation field under an average photon number constraint, we have found both the optimum quantum state and the optimum quantum measurement. The former turns out to have a truncated number-state expansion whose coefficients, out to the truncation point, fall off as 1/n. The latter turns out to be the Susskind-Glogower phase operator. More important, the resulting phase estimation performance improves as 1 / N av 2 .

DOI
10.1364/oam.1988.ma5

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Phase measurements on a single-mode radiation field of annihilation operator a^ are examined from a system-theoretic viewpoint. Quantum estimation theory is used to establish the primacy of the Susskind-Glogower (SG) phase operator, exp^(i\ensuremath{\varphi})==(a^a${\mathrm{^}}^{\mathrm{\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}}}$${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1/2}$a^; its phase eigenkets generate the probability operator measure (POM) for maximum-likelihood phase estimation. When used with an optimum input state, the SG-POM produces a local phase accuracy \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/${\mathit{N}}^{2}$, where N is the average photon number of the state. This performance is far superior to the \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/ \ensuremath{\surd}N and \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/N behaviors of coherent-state and optimized squeezed-state interferometers, respectively. A commuting-observables description for the SG-POM on an extended, signal\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}apparatus, state space is derived. It is analogous to the signal-band\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}image-band formulation for optical heterodyne detection. Because heterodyne detection realizes the a^-POM, this analogy may help realize the SG-POM. Two new classes of nonclassical states are identified through study of the SG operator---the coherent phase states and the squeezed phase states. These are direct analogs of the familiar coherent and squeezed states associated with the annihilation operator. Linear system theory is used to elicit a broader class of states---the rational phase states---which includes the coherent and squeezed phase states as special cases, and affords a filter-theory derivation of the minimum average-energy quantum state with prescribed phase-measurement statistics. Fourier theory is also used to prove a number-phase uncertainty relation without recourse to the usual linearization procedures, and to show that the Pegg-Barnett phase operator has the same measurement statistics as the SG-POM for arbitrary quantum states.

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Recent theoretical studies have considered various possibilities for experimental measurements of phase using quantum states of a finite mean number of photons. Currently, the most experimentally accessible of these possibilities is an interferometric phase measurement using a squeezed state that has minimum variance for the phase quadrature; this possibility can yield, in principle, a phase measurement with uncertainty of order l/(mean number of photons). Shapiro, Shepard, and Wong1 (SSW) have proposed another possibility. They maximize the peak likelihood in an abstract measurement of the Susskind-Glogower phase operator, and they claim a phase sensitivity that goes as l/(mean number of photons).2 The SSW phase probability distribution consists of an extremely narrow peak sitting on a broad base that covers the entire 2 radians of phase; as a result, a single SSW phase measurement has poor sensitivity. Shapiro, Shepard, and Wong argue that their claimed sensitivity can be achieved in a sequence of measurements. We study the statistics of the maximum-likelihood estimator in a sequence of SSW phase measurements, and we report how the uncertainty in the estimator scales with the mean number of photons used in the entire sequence.

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P Liu, G R Jin

Abstract Photon counting measurement has been regarded as the optimal measurement scheme for phase estimation in the squeezed-state interferometry, since the classical Fisher information equals to the quantum fisher information and scales as n ¯ 2 for given input number of photons n ¯ . However, it requires photon-number-resolving detectors with a large enough resolution threshold. Here we show that a collection of N -photon detection events for N up to the resolution threshold ∼ n ¯ can result in the ultimate estimation precision beyond the shot-noise limit. An analytical formula has been derived to obtain the best scaling of the fisher information.

arXiv:1801.00555•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Aug 17, 2017•7 citations
In a shot-noise-limited (coherent state) phasesensing interferometer, the root-mean-square (rms) phase error is ~ 1 / N av 1 / 2 where Nav is the average number of detected photons. In an optimized squeezed-state interferometer, the rms phase error goes as 1/Nav. We have considered the phase measurement problem from the viewpoint of quantum estimation theory.1 In particular, for the problem of optimum phase-shift estimation from observation of a single mode of the radiation field under an average photon number constraint, we have found both the optimum quantum state and the optimum quantum measurement. The former turns out to have a truncated number-state expansion whose coefficients, out to the truncation point, fall off as 1/n. The latter turns out to be the Susskind-Glogower phase operator. More important, the resulting phase estimation performance improves as 1 / N av 2 .
The Susskind-Glogower (SG) phase operator is shown to be the maximum-likelihood (ML) quantum measurement of optical phase for all input states. The ML performance of the SG measurement is optimized, at average photon number N, by an input state with number-ket representation of the form ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\psi}}}_{\mathrm{n}}$=A/(1+n), for 0\ensuremath{\le}n\ensuremath{\le}M<\ensuremath{\infty}. The optimum phase-error behavior, measured by the reciprocal peak-likelihood, is proportional to 1/N2{\mathrm{N}}^{2}N2, as opposed to the 1/ \ensuremath{\surd}N and 1/N dependences of coherent-state and optimum squeezed-state interferometers.
Phase measurements on a single-mode radiation field of annihilation operator a^ are examined from a system-theoretic viewpoint. Quantum estimation theory is used to establish the primacy of the Susskind-Glogower (SG) phase operator, exp^(i\ensuremath{\varphi})==(a^a${\mathrm{^}}^{\mathrm{\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}}}$${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1/2}$a^; its phase eigenkets generate the probability operator measure (POM) for maximum-likelihood phase estimation. When used with an optimum input state, the SG-POM produces a local phase accuracy \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/N2{\mathit{N}}^{2}N2, where N is the average photon number of the state. This performance is far superior to the \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/ \ensuremath{\surd}N and \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\sim}1/N behaviors of coherent-state and optimized squeezed-state interferometers, respectively. A commuting-observables description for the SG-POM on an extended, signal\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}apparatus, state space is derived. It is analogous to the signal-band\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}image-band formulation for optical heterodyne detection. Because heterodyne detection realizes the a^-POM, this analogy may help realize the SG-POM. Two new classes of nonclassical states are identified through study of the SG operator---the coherent phase states and the squeezed phase states. These are direct analogs of the familiar coherent and squeezed states associated with the annihilation operator. Linear system theory is used to elicit a broader class of states---the rational phase states---which includes the coherent and squeezed phase states as special cases, and affords a filter-theory derivation of the minimum average-energy quantum state with prescribed phase-measurement statistics. Fourier theory is also used to prove a number-phase uncertainty relation without recourse to the usual linearization procedures, and to show that the Pegg-Barnett phase operator has the same measurement statistics as the SG-POM for arbitrary quantum states.
In 1981, Caves pointed out that the phase sensitivity of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with single-mode inputs is bounded by the shot-noise limit. The quantum Fisher information analysis shows that this statement holds true for the scenario where two antisymmetric phase shifts occur in two arms, but it is invalid for the scenario where an unknown phase is embedded in one of two arms. In this paper, we focus on the phase sensitivity directed against the latter scenario. The optimal single-mode input is discussed by analyzing common states, including displaced squeezed states, displaced number states, squeezed number states, Schrödinger cat states and completely mixed states. We find that the best choice is a squeezed vacuum state and show the specific measurement scheme which is capable of saturating the corresponding phase sensitivity limit. In addition, we study the effects of several realistic factors-anti-squeezing noise, photon loss and dark counts-on the phase sensitivity. Our results suggest that sub-shot-noise-limited phase sensitivity is attainable with low noise or loss, which paves the way for practical metrology.
Recent theoretical studies have considered various possibilities for experimental measurements of phase using quantum states of a finite mean number of photons. Currently, the most experimentally accessible of these possibilities is an interferometric phase measurement using a squeezed state that has minimum variance for the phase quadrature; this possibility can yield, in principle, a phase measurement with uncertainty of order l/(mean number of photons). Shapiro, Shepard, and Wong1 (SSW) have proposed another possibility. They maximize the peak likelihood in an abstract measurement of the Susskind-Glogower phase operator, and they claim a phase sensitivity that goes as l/(mean number of photons).2 The SSW phase probability distribution consists of an extremely narrow peak sitting on a broad base that covers the entire 2 radians of phase; as a result, a single SSW phase measurement has poor sensitivity. Shapiro, Shepard, and Wong argue that their claimed sensitivity can be achieved in a sequence of measurements. We study the statistics of the maximum-likelihood estimator in a sequence of SSW phase measurements, and we report how the uncertainty in the estimator scales with the mean number of photons used in the entire sequence.
There has been much interest in developing phase estimation schemes which beat the so-called Heisenberg limit, i.e., for which the phase resolution scales better than 1/n, where n is a measure of resources such as the average photon number or the number of atomic qubits. In particular, a number of nonlinear schemes have been proposed for which the resolution appears to scale as 1/n^k or even exp(-n), based on optimising the quantum Cramer-Rao bound. Such schemes include the use of entangled coherent states. However, it may be shown that the average root mean square errors of the proposed schemes (averaged over any prior distribution of phase shifts), cannot beat the Heisenberg limit, and that simple estimation schemes based on entangled coherent states cannot scale better than 1/n^{1/4}. This paradox is related to the role of 'bias' in Cramer-Rao bounds, and is only partially ameliorated via iterative implementations of the proposed schemes. The results are based on new information-theoretic bounds for the average information gain and error of any phase estimation scheme, and generalise to estimates of shifts generated by any operator having discrete eigenvalues.
Abstract Photon counting measurement has been regarded as the optimal measurement scheme for phase estimation in the squeezed-state interferometry, since the classical Fisher information equals to the quantum fisher information and scales as n ¯ 2 for given input number of photons n ¯ . However, it requires photon-number-resolving detectors with a large enough resolution threshold. Here we show that a collection of N -photon detection events for N up to the resolution threshold ∼ n ¯ can result in the ultimate estimation precision beyond the shot-noise limit. An analytical formula has been derived to obtain the best scaling of the fisher information.