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Communications in Theoretical Physics

Quantum metrology with optimal control under an arbitrary non-Markovian bosonic environment

Likun Zhou, Wen Yang

Published Sep 26, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Finding the optimal control is of importance to quantum metrology under a noisy environment. In this paper, we tackle the problem of finding the optimal control to enhance the performance of quantum metrology under an arbitrary non-Markovian bosonic environment. By introducing an equivalent pseudomode model, the non-Markovian dynamic evolution is reduced to a Lindblad master equation, which helps us to calculate the gradient of quantum Fisher information and perform the gradient ascent algorithm to find the optimal control. Our approach is accurate and circumvents the need for the Born–Markovian approximation. As an example, we consider the frequency estimation of a spin with pure dephasing under two types of non-Markovian environments. By maximizing the quantum Fisher information at a fixed evolution time, we obtain the optimal multi-axis control, which results in a notable enhancement in quantum metrology. The advantage of our method lies in its applicability to the arbitrary non-Markovian bosonic environment.

DOI
10.1088/1572-9494/ad7fd4

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Abstract Finding the optimal control is of importance to quantum metrology under a noisy environment. In this paper, we tackle the problem of finding the optimal control to enhance the performance of quantum metrology under an arbitrary non-Markovian bosonic environment. By introducing an equivalent pseudomode model, the non-Markovian dynamic evolution is reduced to a Lindblad master equation, which helps us to calculate the gradient of quantum Fisher information and perform the gradient ascent algorithm to find the optimal control. Our approach is accurate and circumvents the need for the Born–Markovian approximation. As an example, we consider the frequency estimation of a spin with pure dephasing under two types of non-Markovian environments. By maximizing the quantum Fisher information at a fixed evolution time, we obtain the optimal multi-axis control, which results in a notable enhancement in quantum metrology. The advantage of our method lies in its applicability to the arbitrary non-Markovian bosonic environment.
The problem of quantum metrology in the context of a particular non-Markovian quantum evolution is explored. We study the dynamics of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of a composite quantum probe coupled to a Lorentzian environment, for a full variety of different classes of parameters. We are able to find the best metrological state, which is not maximally entangled but is the one which evolves the most rapidly. This is shown by demonstrating a connection between QFI and different quantum speed limits. At the same time, by optimizing a control field acting on the probes, we show how the total information flow is actively manipulated by the control so as to enhance the parameter estimation at a given final evolution time. Finally, under this controlled scenario, a sharp interplay between the dynamics of QFI, non-Markovianity, and entanglement is revealed within different control schemes.
Quantum metrology is a rapidly developing branch of quantum technologies. While various theories have been established on quantum metrology for Markovian processes, i.e., quantum channel estimation, quantum metrology for non-Markovian processes is much less explored. In this Letter, we establish a general framework of non-Markovian quantum metrology. For any parametrized non-Markovian process on a finite-dimensional system, we derive a formula for the maximal amount of quantum Fisher information that can be extracted from it by an optimally controlled probe state. In addition, we design an algorithm that evaluates this quantum Fisher information via semidefinite programming. We apply our framework to noisy frequency estimation, where we find that the optimal performance of quantum metrology is better in the non-Markovian scenario than in the Markovian scenario and explore the possibility of efficient sensing via simple variational circuits.
Quantum optimal control (QOC) schemes can be employed to enhance the sensitivity of quantum metrology (QM) protocols undergoing Markovian noise, which can limit their precision to a standard quantum limit (SQL)-like scaling. In this paper, we propose a QOC scheme for QM that leverages entanglement and optimized coupling interactions with an ancillary system to provide enhanced metrological performance under general Markovian dynamics. We perform a comparative analysis of our entanglement-enhanced scheme against the unentangled scheme conventionally employed in QOC-enabled QM for varying evolution times and decoherence levels, revealing that the entanglement-enhanced scheme enables significantly better noise performance, even when a noisy ancilla is employed. We further extend our investigation to time-inhomogeneous noise models, specifically focusing on a noisy frequency estimation scenario within a spin-boson bath, and evaluate the protocol's performance under completely dissipative and dephasing dynamics. Our findings indicate that, in certain situations, schemes employing coherent control of a single particle are severely limited. In such cases, employing the entanglement-enhanced scheme can provide improved performance.
We analyze quantum metrological protocols, where the sensing system is linearly coupled to a bosonic environment, by performing a Markovian embedding of the problem based on pseudomode formalism. This allows us to effectively model the problem using low-dimensional environment and apply recently developed powerful tools that yield optimal metrological protocols and fundamental metrological bounds for correlated-noise models. We illustrate the method by investigating a frequency estimation protocol in the presence of noise modeled effectively as a damped Jaynes-Cummings dynamics.
Abstract In this paper, we consider the problem of open-loop control of a qubit that is coupled to an unknown fully quantum non-Markovian noise (either bosonic or fermionic). A graybox model that is empirically obtained from measurement data is employed to approximately represent the unknown quantum noise. The estimated model is then used to calculate the open-loop control pulses under constraints on the pulse amplitude and timing. For the control pulse optimization, we explore the use of gradient descent and genetic optimization methods. We consider the effect of finite sampling on estimating expectation values of observables and show results for single- and multi-axis control of a qubit.
Recently, it has been shown that protocols utilizing infinitely fast controls, such as quantum error correction, can in principle restore Heisenberg-limited frequency estimation in the presence of a broad class of non-Markovian noise models arising from coupling to finite-dimensional environments. However, these controls differ substantially from those used to address Markovian noise, and their underlying physical mechanism remains unclear. In this work, we establish a direct connection between these protocols and the quantum Zeno effect, and extend the framework to infinite-dimensional environments. We delineate three types of constructions: (a) protocols that rely solely on measurements, (b) protocols using an active recovery after measurements and (c) protocols using dynamical decoupling and rigorously analyze the performance of each when controls can be applied at only a finite rate. While protocols relying purely on measurements can be engineered for noise models where active recoveries are fundamentally impossible, they result in the quantum Fisher information exhibiting a quadratically worse dependence on the control frequency. Surprisingly, while dynamical decoupling protocols are possible whenever protocols relying only on measurements can be engineered, the quantum Fisher information has the same dependence on control frequency as the active recovery protocols. Numerical simulations suggest that the improvement offered by dynamical decoupling may work in regimes beyond the perturbative setting where our rigorous theorems apply.