We consider an interferometer that contains active elements, such as a parametric amplifier, with general two-mode Gaussian unitary channels rather than the usually considered phase-shift channel. We concentrate on a scheme based on the recently proposed pumped-up SU(1,1) active interferometer where all input particles participate in the parameter estimation, and from which a conventional SU(1,1) interferometer is a limiting case. Using the covariance matrix formalism, we derive the quantum Fisher information of this active interferometer with a general two-mode Gaussian unitary channel, as well as the sensitivity for a number-sum measurement scheme, finding simple expressions for the latter. As an example application, we apply our results to Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), and in particular a BEC gravitational-wave detector based on resonance, finding that the sensitivity of the detector can be improved by several orders of magnitude with this new interferometry scheme.
Active interferometers are designed to enhance phase sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit by generating entanglement inside the interferometer. An atomic version of such a device can be constructed by means of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate with an $F=1$ groundstate manifold in which spin-changing collisions create entangled pairs of $m=\pm1$ atoms. We use Bethe Ansatz techniques to find exact eigenstates and eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian that models such spin-changing collisions. Using these results, we express the interferometer's phase sensitivity, Fisher information, and Helli…
Active interferometers use amplifying elements for beam splitting and recombination. We experimentally implement such a device by using spin exchange in a Bose-Einstein condensate. The two interferometry modes are initially empty spin states that get spontaneously populated in the process of parametric amplification. This nonlinear mechanism scatters atoms into both modes in a pairwise fashion and generates a nonclassical state. Finally, a matched second period of spin exchange is performed that nonlinearly amplifies the output signal and maps the phase onto readily detectable first moments. D…
We propose classical interferometry with low-intensity thermal radiation for the estimation of nonclassical independent Gaussian processes in material samples. We generally determine the mean square error of the phase-independent parameters of an unknown Gaussian process, considering a noisy source of radiation the phase of which is not locked to the pump of the process. We verify the sufficiency of passive optical elements in the interferometer, active optical elements do not improve the quality of the estimation. We also prove the robustness of the method against the noise and loss in both i…
We optimize the signal-to-noise ratio of a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer with Gaussian squeezed input states, in the presence interactions. For weak interactions, our results coincide with Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 100}, 250406 (2008), with optimal initial number-variance $σ_o\propto N^{1/3}$ and optimal signal-to-noise ratio $s_o\propto N^{2/3}$ for total atom number $N$. As the interaction strength $u$ increases past unity, phase-diffusion becomes dominant, leading to a transition in the optimal squeezing from initial number-squeezing to initial {\it phase}-squeezing with $σ_o\propto\sqrt{uN}…
We address precision of optical interferometers fed by Gaussian states and involving passive and/or active elements, such as beam splitters, photodetectors and optical parametric amplifiers. We first address the ultimate bounds to precision by discussing the behaviour of the quantum Fisher information. We then consider photodetection at the output and calculate the sensitivity of the interferometers taking into account the non unit quantum efficiency of the detectors. Our results show that in the ideal case of photon number detectors with unit quantum efficiency the best configuration is the s…
A Mach-Zender interferometer with a gaussian number-difference squeezed input state can exhibit sub-shot-noise phase resolution over a large phase-interval. We obtain the optimal level of squeezing for a given phase-interval $Δθ_0$ and particle number $N$, with the resulting phase-estimation uncertainty smoothly approaching $3.5/N$ as $Δθ_0$ approaches 10/N, achieved with highly squeezed states near the Fock regime. We then analyze an adaptive measurement scheme which allows any phase on $(-π/2,π/2)$ to be measured with a precision of $3.5/N$ requiring only a few measurements, even for very la…
A class of Adaptive Decoders (AD's) for coherent-state sequences is studied, including in particular the most common technology for optical-signal processing, e.g., interferometers, coherent displacements and photon-counting detectors. More generally we consider AD's comprising adaptive procedures based on passive multi-mode Gaussian unitaries and arbitrary single-mode destructive measurements. For classical communication on quantum phase-insensitive Gaussian channels with a coherent-state encoding, we show that the AD's optimal information transmission rate is not greater than that of a singl…
We present a new operator method in the Heisenberg representation to obtain the signal of parity measurement within a lossless SU(1,1) interferometer. Based on this method, it is convenient to derive the parity signal directly in terms of input states, including general Gaussian or non-Gaussian state. As applications, we revisit the signal of parity measurement within an SU(1,1) interferometer when a coherent or thermal state and a squeezed vacuum state are considered as input states. In addition, we also obtain the parity signal of a Fock state when it passes through an SU(1,1) interferometer…
SU(1,1) interferometry, proposed in a classic 1986 paper by Yurke, McCall, and Klauder [Phys. Rev. A 33, 4033 (1986)], involves squeezing, displacing, and then unsqueezing two bosonic modes. It has, over the past decade, been implemented in a variety of experiments. Here I take SU(1,1) interferometry apart, to see how and why it ticks. SU(1,1) interferometry arises naturally as the two-mode version of active-squeezing-enhanced, back-action-evading measurements aimed at detecting the phase-space displacement of a harmonic oscillator subjected to a classical force. Truncating an SU(1,1) interfer…
We study interferometry with Gaussian states and show that an ancilla-assisted scheme outperforms coherent state interferometry for all levels of loss. We also compare the ancilla-assisted scheme to other interferometric schemes involving squeezing, and show that it is the most advantage in the high-loss, high photon-number regime. In fact, in the presence of high loss, it out-performs many other strategies proposed to date. We find the optimal measurement observable for each scheme discussed. We also find that with the appropriate measurement, the achievable precision of the proposal by Caves…
We introduce a quantum interferometric scheme that uses states that are sharp in frequency and delocalized in position. The states are frequency modes of a quantum field that is trapped at all times in a finite volume potential, such as a small box potential. This allows for significant miniaturization of interferometric devices. Since the modes are in contact at all times, it is possible to estimate physical parameters of global multi-mode channels. As an example, we introduce a three-mode scheme and calculate precision bounds in the estimation of parameters of two-mode Gaussian channels. Thi…
We investigated the estimation of an unknown Gaussian process (containing displacement, squeezing and phase-shift) applied to a matter system. The state of the matter system is not directly measured; instead, we measure an optical mode which interacts with the system. We propose an interferometric setup exploiting a beam-splitter-type of light-matter interaction with homodyne detectors and two methods of estimation. We demonstrate the superiority of the interferometric setup over alternative non-interferometric schemes. Importantly, we show that even limited coupling strength and a noisy matte…
The uniformity of the intensity and phase of laser beams is crucial to high-performance atom interferometers. Inhomogeneities in the laser intensity profile cause contrast reductions and systematic effects in interferometers operated with atom sources at micro-Kelvin temperatures, and detrimental diffraction phase shifts in interferometers using large momentum transfer beam splitters. We report on the implementation of a so-called top-hat laser beam in a long-interrogation-time cold-atom interferometer to overcome the issue of the inhomogeneous laser intensity encountered when using Gaussian l…
We observed two-photon phase super-resolution in an unbalanced Michelson interferometer with classical Gaussian laser pulses. Our work is a time-reversed version of a two-photon interference experiment using an unbalanced Michelson interferometer. A measured interferogram exhibits two-photon phase super-resolution with a high visibility of 97.9% \pm 0.4%. Its coherence length is about 22 times longer than that of the input laser pulses. It is a classical analogue to the large difference between the one- and two-photon coherence lengths of entangled photon pairs.
Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry takes advantage of the quantum nature of two-photon interference to increase the resolution of precision measurements of time-delays. Relying on few-photon probe states, this approach is applicable also in cases of extremely sensible samples and it achieves attosecond (nanometer path length) scale resolution, which is relevant to cell biology and two-dimensional materials. Here, we theoretically analyze how the precision of Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometers can be significantly improved by engineering the spectral distribution of two-photon probe states. In particula…
Young's double-slit experiment requires two waves produced simultaneously at two different points in space. In quantum mechanics the waves correspond to a single quantum object, even as complex as a big molecule. An interference is present as long as one cannot tell for sure which slit is chosen by the object. The more we know about the path, the worse the interference. In the paper we show that quantum mechanics allows for a dual version of the phenomenon: self-interference of waves propagating through a single slit but at different moments of time. The effect occurs for time-independent Hami…
The concerted motion of two or more bound electrons governs atomic and molecular non-equilibrium processes and chemical reactions. It is thus a long-standing scientific dream to measure the dynamics of two bound correlated electrons in the quantum regime. Quantum wave packets were previously observed for single-active electrons on their natural attosecond timescales. However, at least two active electrons and a nucleus are required to address the quantum three-body problem. This situation is realized in the helium atom, but direct time-resolved observation of two-electron wave-packet motion re…
Long-time atom interferometry is instrumental to various high-precision measurements of fundamental physical properties, including tests of the equivalence principle. Due to rotations and gravity gradients, the classical trajectories characterizing the motion of the wave packets for the two branches of the interferometer do not close in phase space, an effect which increases significantly with the interferometer time. The relative displacement between the interfering wave packets in such open interferometers leads to a fringe pattern in the density profile at each exit port and a loss of contr…
We show that by injecting a light pulse prepared in a non-Gaussian quantum state into the dark port of a two-arm interferometer, it is possible to detect a given phase shift with the fidelity which is limited only by the optical losses and the photodetection inefficiency. The value of the phase shift is inversely proportional to the amplitude of the classical carrier light injected into another (bright) port of the interferometer. It can be reduced by using an additional degenerate parametric amplifier (squeezer) in the input dark port and the matching anti-squeezer in the output dark port. We…
