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Liouvillian versus Hamiltonian Exceptional Points as Stationary Sensing Resources: a Two-Level Dissipative Case Study

H.-Y. Liu

Published Oct 28, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Exceptional points (EPs) of the effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and of the Liou- villian superoperator are often treated interchangeably in dissipative quantum sensing. In the exactly solvable amplitude-damped two-level sensor we prove that the two degeneracies live at different parameter points—the Hamiltonian EP at (ε,∆) = (0,γ/2), where the Li- ouvillian spectrum is perfectly regular, and the genuine Liouvillian EP at (0,γ/4), where a Jordan block appears—and derive the closed-form stationary quantum Fisher informa- tion (QFI), finite at both EPs and globally maximized at a non-EP point. The divergent response motivating EP sensing lives exclusively in the no-jump (post-selected) sector, at a post-selection success cost that vanishes linearly with the detuning. We classify Liouvil- lian EPs into gap-closing (type I, genuine critical resources) and finite-rate (type II, not resources), validated by a degenerate parametric oscillator, and benchmark the stationary results against the scattering-matrix QFI bound of Wiersig and Rotter (enhancement factor 4 reproduced). Forstationarydissipativesensors, neitherEPalonegrantsQFIenhancement.

DOI
10.21203/rs.3.rs-11520823/v1

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Abstract Exceptional points (EPs) of the effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and of the Liou- villian superoperator are often treated interchangeably in dissipative quantum sensing. In the exactly solvable amplitude-damped two-level sensor we prove that the two degeneracies live at different parameter points—the Hamiltonian EP at (ε,∆) = (0,γ/2), where the Li- ouvillian spectrum is perfectly regular, and the genuine Liouvillian EP at (0,γ/4), where a Jordan block appears—and derive the closed-form stationary quantum Fisher informa- tion (QFI), finite at both EPs and globally maximized at a non-EP point. The divergent response motivating EP sensing lives exclusively in the no-jump (post-selected) sector, at a post-selection success cost that vanishes linearly with the detuning. We classify Liouvil- lian EPs into gap-closing (type I, genuine critical resources) and finite-rate (type II, not resources), validated by a degenerate parametric oscillator, and benchmark the stationary results against the scattering-matrix QFI bound of Wiersig and Rotter (enhancement factor 4 reproduced). Forstationarydissipativesensors, neitherEPalonegrantsQFIenhancement.
Open quantum systems can be approximately described by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians (NHHs) and Liouvillian superoperators. The two approaches differ by quantum jump terms corresponding to a measurement of the system by its environment. We analyze the emergence of exceptional points (EPs) in NHHs and Liouvillian superoperators. In particular, we show how EPs in NHHs relate to a novel type of EPs -- multi-block EPs -- in the no-jump Liouvillian, i.e. the Liouvillian superoperator in absence of quantum jump terms. We further analyze how quantum jump terms modify the multi-block structure. To illustrate our general findings, we present two prime examples: qubits and qutrits coupled to additional ground state levels that serve as sinks of the population. In those examples, we can navigate through the EP block structure by a variation of physical parameters. We analyze how the dynamics of the population of the states is affected by the order of the EPs. Additionally, we demonstrate that the quantum geometric tensor serves as a sensitive indicator of EPs of different kinds.
Central to non-Hermitian sensing is the question of whether exceptional points (EPs) can make weak perturbations easier to detect. We show that despite enhanced spectral response, in finite-dimensional Lindblad systems with a unique stationary state and a nonzero relaxation gap, EPs offer no fundamental advantage in how the observation time required for reliable detection of a weak perturbation scales with the perturbation strength. We nevertheless demonstrate that by selectively choosing perturbations that enhance the quantum Fisher information rate, EPs can shorten the observation time needed to reach a predefined detection accuracy relative to a comparable non-EP reference at the same decay rate. As an illustration, we show using an optomechanical model at an EP that we can detect a weak force through the cavity output at the same reliability in less time than a non-EP reference. Our results establish fundamental limits on perturbation detection at EPs and can guide the design of faster non-Hermitian sensors based on optomechanical resonators, superconducting qubits, and trapped ions.
The open quantum system can be described by either a Lindblad master equation or a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian (NHH). However, these two descriptions usually have different exceptional points (EPs), associated with the degeneracies in the open quantum system. Here, considering a dissipative quantum Rabi model, we study the spectral features of EPs in these two descriptions and explore their connections. We find that, although the EPs in these two descriptions are usually different, the EPs of NHH will be consistent with the EPs of master equation in the weak coupling regime. Further, we find that the quantum Fisher information (QFI), which measures the statistical distance between quantum states, can be used as a signature for the appearance of EPs. Our study may give a theoretical guidance for exploring the properties of EPs in open quantum systems.
Exceptional points (EPs) are degeneracies of classical and quantum open systems, which are studied in many areas of physics including optics, optoelectronics, plasmonics, and condensed matter physics. In the semiclassical regime, open systems can be described by phenomenological effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonians (NHHs) capturing the effects of gain and loss in terms of imaginary fields. The EPs that characterize the spectra of such Hamiltonians (HEPs) describe the time evolution of a system without quantum jumps. It is well known that a full quantum treatment describing more generic dynamics must crucially take into account such quantum jumps. In a recent paper [F. Minganti et al., Phys. Rev. A 100, 062131 (2019)], we generalized the notion of EPs to the spectra of Liouvillian superoperators governing open system dynamics described by Lindblad master equations. Intriguingly, we found that in situations where a classical-to-quantum correspondence exists, the two types of dynamics can yield different EPs. In a recent experimental work [M. Naghiloo et al., Nat. Phys. 15, 1232 (2019)], it was shown that one can engineer a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in the quantum limit by postselecting on certain quantum jump trajectories. This raises an interesting question concerning the relation between Hamiltonian and Lindbladian EPs, and quantum trajectories. We discuss these connections by introducing a hybrid-Liouvillian superoperator, capable of describing the passage from an NHH (when one postselects only those trajectories without quantum jumps) to a true Liouvillian including quantum jumps (without postselection). Beyond its fundamental interest, our approach allows to intuitively relate the effects of postselection and finite-efficiency detectors.
There has been debate around applicability of exceptional points (EPs) for quantum sensing. To resolve this, we first explore how to experimentally implement the non-Hermitian non-diagonalizable Hamiltonians, which exhibit EPs, in quantum computers that run on unitary gates. We propose to use an ancilla-based method in this regard. Next, we show how such Hamiltonians can be used for parameter estimation using quantum computers and analyze its performance in terms of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) at EPs, both without noise and in the presence of noise. It is well known that QFI of a parameter to be estimated is inversely related to the variance of the parameter by the quantum Cramer–Rao bound. Therefore, the divergence of the QFI at EPs promises sensing advantages. We experimentally demonstrate in a cloud quantum architecture and theoretically show, using Puiseux series, that the QFI indeed diverges in such EP systems that were earlier considered to be non-divergent.
Exceptional points (EPs) exhibit strongly enhanced spectral responses and are therefore promising candidates for sensing applications. Whether these non-Hermitian degeneracies provide a genuine advantage in the quantum regime has been the subject of ongoing debate. Here, we address this issue within a scattering-matrix formalism for sensing with coherent light, which allows the quantum Fisher information (QFI) to be evaluated directly from experimentally accessible scattering data without introducing additional noise channels beyond those inherent to the scattering process. We analyze both nondegenerate and degenerate scattering-matrix poles, including EPs of arbitrary order, and show that the QFI per incoming photon flux is governed by three key factors: the decay rate of the resonant mode, the strength of the spectral response associated with non-normality, and the adjustment between the scattering states and the information source. For spatially localized perturbations, this implies that the Fisher information is fully determined by the local density of states at the perturbation site. Within this framework, we demonstrate that EPs can enhance the QFI compared to isolated modes or diabolic points with identical decay rates, and that the QFI can be further increased by moving away from the EP toward parameter regimes where non-Hermitian linewidth splitting reduces the decay rate of one mode. We further show that sufficiently small additional internal losses do not alter this overall picture, thereby providing a unified and experimentally relevant perspective on the design of quantum-limited non-Hermitian sensors.