We develop an asymptotic theory of estimation of a shift parameter in a pure quantum state to study the relation between entangled and unentangled covariant estimates in the analytically most transparent way. After recollecting basics of estimation of shift parameter in Sec. 2, we study the structure of the optimal covariant estimate in Sec. 3, showing how entanglement comes into play for several independent trials. In Secs. 4,5 we give the asymptotics of the performance of the optimal covariant estimate comparing it with the ``semiclassical'' unentangled covariant estimation in the regular case of finite variance of the generator of the shift group. Sec. 6 is devoted to covariant estimation in the case where the regularity assumption is violated.
We develop an asymptotic theory of estimation of a shift parameter in a pure quantum state to study the relation between entangled and unentangled covariant estimates in the analytically most transparent way. After recollecting basics of estimation of shift parameter in Sec. 2, we study the structure of the optimal covariant estimate in Sec. 3, showing how entanglement comes into play for several independent trials. In Secs. 4,5 we give the asymptotics of the performance of the optimal covariant estimate comparing it with the ``semiclassical'' unentangled covariant estimation in the regular case of finite variance of the generator of the shift group. Sec. 6 is devoted to covariant estimation in the case where the regularity assumption is violated.
The asymptotics of the optimal covariant estimate of a shift parameter of a pure quantum state is studied. In the regular case, where the variance of the generator of the shift group is finite, this problem of quantum statistics turns outto be connected with the information-theoretic approach to the classical central limit theorem proposed by Linnik in 1959. We also consider the quantum analogue of estimation of the shift parameter of the uniform distribution in which the regularity assumption is violated. The advantage of using entanglement is demonstrated in the class of covariant estimates.
We derive a bound on the precision of state estimation for finite dimensional quantum systems and prove its attainability in the generic case where the spectrum is non-degenerate. Our results hold under an assumption called local asymptotic covariance, which is weaker than unbiasedness or local unbiasedness. The derivation is based on an analysis of the limiting distribution of the estimator’s deviation from the true value of the parameter, and takes advantage of quantum local asymptotic normality, a useful asymptotic characterization of identically prepared states in terms of Gaussian states. We first prove our results for the mean square error of a special class of models, called D -invariant, and then extend the results to arbitrary models, generic cost functions, and global state estimation, where the unknown parameter is not restricted to a local neighbourhood of the true value. The extension includes a treatment of nuisance parameters, i.e. parameters that are not of interest to the experimenter but nevertheless affect the precision of the estimation. As an illustration of the general approach, we provide the optimal estimation strategies for the joint measurement of two qubit observables, for the estimation of qubit states in the presence of amplitude damping noise, and for noisy multiphase estimation.
In classical statistics, Pinsker’s theorem provides an exact asymptotic minimax bound in nonparametric estimation, improving upon optimal rates of convergence results. We obtain a quantum version of the theorem by establishing asymptotic minimax results for estimation of the displacement vector in a quantum Gaussian white noise model, given by a sequence of shifted vacuum states. Analogous results are then obtained for estimation of a general pure state from an ensemble of identically prepared, independent quantum systems, using the recently established local asymptotic equivalence to the quantum Gaussian white noise model. Optimality holds with respect to the most fundamental distance measure for quantum states, that is, trace norm distance, and in a true quantum sense, allowing for all possible measurements. Adaptive estimators are also obtained for the above cases. As an application, we obtain asymptotic minimax adaptive estimators for Wigner functions of pure states.
For parameter estimation from an [Formula: see text]-component composite quantum system, it is known that a separable preparation leads to a mean-squared estimation error scaling as [Formula: see text] while an entangled preparation can in some conditions afford a smaller error with [Formula: see text] scaling. This quantum superefficiency is however very fragile to noise or decoherence, and typically disappears with any small amount of random noise asymptotically at large [Formula: see text]. To complement this asymptotic characterization, here we characterize how the estimation efficiency evolves as a function of the size [Formula: see text] of the entangled system and its degree of entanglement. We address a generic situation of qubit phase estimation, also meaningful for frequency estimation. Decoherence is represented by the broad class of noises commuting with the phase rotation, which includes depolarizing, phase-flip and thermal quantum noises. In these general conditions, explicit expressions are derived for the quantum Fisher information quantifying the ultimate achievable efficiency for estimation. We confront at any size [Formula: see text] the efficiency of the optimal separable preparation to that of an entangled preparation with arbitrary degree of entanglement. We exhibit the [Formula: see text] superefficiency with no noise, and prove its asymptotic disappearance at large [Formula: see text] for any nonvanishing noise configuration. For maximizing the estimation efficiency, we characterize the existence of an optimum [Formula: see text] of the size of the entangled system along with an optimal degree of entanglement. For nonunital noises, maximum efficiency is usually obtained at partial entanglement. Grouping the [Formula: see text] qubits into independent blocks formed of [Formula: see text] entangled qubits restores at large [Formula: see text] a nonvanishing efficiency that can improve over that of [Formula: see text] independent qubits optimally prepared. Also, one inactive qubit included in the entangled probe sometimes stands as the most efficient setting for estimation. The results further attest with new characterizations the subtlety of entanglement for quantum information in the presence of noise, showing that when entanglement is beneficial, maximum efficiency is not necessarily obtained by maximum entanglement but instead by a controlled degree and finite optimal amount of it.
We examine the conditions under which quantum parameter estimation is compatible with the concept of a ``true'' quantity value: a unique value of the estimated quantity that exists prior to and independently of measurement. While quantum parameter estimation typically assumes that the quantity to be estimated is a parameter, we argue that this assumption can be lifted, opening the way to a more general formulation of estimation that may apply even in situations where the quantity to be estimated is no longer a parameter, but instead a quantum variable susceptible to quantum fluctuations. We identify three assumptions that characterize the way estimation is often presented in the quantum metrology literature, namely, as a procedure for inferring an unknown ``true value", which is assumed to be unique and to exist prior to and independently of measurement. Using our more general framework, we prove a no-go theorem showing that the preceding assumptions are jointly incompatible with two further assumptions: the completeness of the quantum state (no `hidden variables'), and the presence of entanglement between the probe systems and the system under measurement. We note that the presence of such entanglement is a generic prediction of standard quantum theory. Consequently, if one is not willing to accept hidden variables, nor willing to modify standard quantum theory by introducing a new physical mechanism that destroys entanglement at some scale or regime, then a realist account of estimation is ultimately impossible.
For classical--quantum wiretap channels with a transitive covariant input action, both output ensembles admit a description as unitary group orbits of fixed seed states. We use this structure to construct finite-block preprocessing schemes whose private information is an entropy difference evaluated at two distributions related by group convolution. Applying the construction to product groups allows correlations across any fixed number of channel uses. We give a sufficient condition for the associated uniform-input bound to equal the single-use private information. Constant-composition channel codes and universal2 hashing achieve the resulting rates, with trace-distance leakage controlled by sandwiched Rényi information. For uniform outer randomization, the representation structure reduces the comparison-state optimization to Eve's invariant states. For the hybrid binary channel considered by Tikku, Berta and Renes, numerical optimization at three and four uses gives rates above our numerical estimate of the optimized noisy-repetition benchmark wherever that estimate is positive on the tested grid. The improvement comes from noise distributions beyond the family of independent physical flips and a symmetric logical flip. We also prove nonadditivity at an explicit channel parameter using a two-use encoder, an analytic single-use converse, and certified entropy bounds. Finally, we relate the hybrid model to binary phase-shift keying with a fixed receiver measurement.