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arXiv:quant-ph/0702170 · Physical Review A

Quantum states for Heisenberg-limited interferometry

Hermann Uys, Pierre Meystre

Published Jul 9, 2007• 57 citations
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Abstract

The phase sensitivity of interferometers is limited by the so-called Heisenberg limit, which states that the optimum phase sensitivity is inversely proportional to the number of interfering particles $N$, a $1∕\sqrt{N}$ improvement over the standard quantum limit. We have used simulated annealing, a global optimization strategy, to systematically search for quantum interferometer input states that approach the Heisenberg-limited uncertainty in estimates of the interferometer phase shift. We compare the performance of these states to that of other nonclassical states already known to yield Heisenberg-limited uncertainty.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.76.013804

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The phase sensitivity of interferometers is limited by the so-called Heisenberg limit, which states that the optimum phase sensitivity is inversely proportional to the number of interfering particles NNN, a 1∕N1∕\sqrt{N}1∕N​ improvement over the standard quantum limit. We have used simulated annealing, a global optimization strategy, to systematically search for quantum interferometer input states that approach the Heisenberg-limited uncertainty in estimates of the interferometer phase shift. We compare the performance of these states to that of other nonclassical states already known to yield Heisenberg-limited uncertainty.
By using a systematic optimization approach, we determine quantum states of light with definite photon number leading to the best possible precision in optical two-mode interferometry. Our treatment takes into account the experimentally relevant situation of photon losses. Our results thus reveal the benchmark for precision in optical interferometry. Although this boundary is generally worse than the Heisenberg limit, we show that the obtained precision beats the standard quantum limit, thus leading to a significant improvement compared to classical interferometers. We furthermore discuss alternative states and strategies to the optimized states which are easier to generate at the cost of only slightly lower precision.
Quantum information theory, applied to optical interferometry, yields a 1/n scaling of phase uncertainty Δφ independent of the applied phase shift φ, where n is the number of photons in the interferometer. This 1/n scaling is achieved provided that the output state is subjected to an optimal phase measurement. We establish this scaling law for both passive (linear) and active (nonlinear) interferometers and identify the coefficient of proportionality. Whereas a highly nonclassical state is required to achieve optimal scaling for passive interferometry, a classical input state yields a 1/n scaling of phase uncertainty for active interferometry.
Summary form only given. Interferometry is the basis of many high-precision measurements. The ultimate limit to the precision is due to quantum effects. This limit is most easily explored for a Mach-Zehnder interferometer The outputs of this device can be measured to yield an estimate /spl phi/ of the phase difference /spl phi/ between the two arms of the interferometer. It is well known that this can achieve the standard quantum limit for phase variance when an N-photon number state enters one input port. Several authors have proposed ways of reducing the phase variance to the Heisenberg limit. In this paper we show that there is a physical measurement scheme using photodetectors and feedback that is almost as good as the optimal measurement. The fundamental idea is that, in addition to the unknown phase we wish to measure, /spl phi/, in one arm of the interferometer, we introduce a known phase shift, /spl Phi/, into the other arm of the interferometer. After each photodetection we adjust this introduced phase shift in order to minimize the expected uncertainty of our best phase estimate /spl phi/ after the next photodetection. This feedback process is uniquely defined using Bayesian statistics, and can be solved exactly for moderate photon numbers.
Phase shift estimation with uncertainty below the Heisenberg limit, $\ensuremath{\Delta}{\ensuremath{\phi}}_{\mathrm{HL}}\ensuremath{\propto}1/{\overline{N}}_{T}$, where N‾T{\overline{N}}_{T}NT​ is the total average number of particles employed, is a mirage of linear quantum interferometry. Recently, Rivas and Luis, [New J. Phys. 14, 093052 (2012)] proposed a scheme to achieve a phase uncertainty $\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\propto}1/{\overline{N}}_{T}^{k}$, with kkk an arbitrary exponent. This sparked an intense debate in the literature which, ultimately, does not exclude the possibility to overcome $\ensuremath{\Delta}{\ensuremath{\phi}}_{\mathrm{HL}}$ at specific phase values. Our numerical analysis of the Rivas and Luis proposal shows that sub-Heisenberg uncertainties are obtained only when the estimator is strongly biased. No violation of the Heisenberg limit is found after bias correction or when using a bias-free Bayesian analysis.
We provide general bounds of phase estimation sensitivity in linear two-mode interferometers. We consider probe states with a fluctuating total number of particles. With incoherent mixtures of states with different total number of particles, particle entanglement is necessary but not sufficient to overcome the shot noise limit. The highest possible phase estimation sensitivity, the Heisenberg limit, is established under general unbiased properties of the estimator. If coherences can be created, manipulated, and detected, the Heisenberg limit can only be set in the central limit, with a sufficiently large repetition of interferometric measurements.
Sensitivity bounds for a generic interferometric phase estimation problem are the shot noise and the Heisenberg limits. The shot noise is the highest sensitivity that can be reached with separable states, while the Heisenberg limit is the ultimate bound in sensitivity which can be saturated with entangled states. The scaling of these bounds with the number of particles NNN entering the interferometer depends on the specific Hamiltonian governing the same interferometer. In typical cases, the Hamiltonian is linear, and the shot-noise and Heisenberg limits scale with ${N}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$ and with ${N}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, respectively. With interferometers described by generic, nonlinear Hamiltonian, the scalings with the number of particles can be rather different. Here we study the shot-noise and Heisenberg limits of Ising-like Hamiltonians in the presence of longitudinal and transverse fields, both in the nearest-neighbor and in the fully connected spin interaction cases. We provide the explicit forms of the states saturating the shot-noise and Heisenberg limits. These results can be relevant not only for precision measurement purposes but also to characterize quantum phase transitions and, more generally, the witnessing of multipartite entanglement.