Quantum entanglement has the potential to revolutionize the entire field of interferometric sensing by providing many orders of magnitude improvement in interferometer sensitivity. The quantum-entangled particle interferometer approach is very general and applies to many types of interferometers. In particular, without nonlocal entanglement, a generic classical interferometer has a statistical-sampling shot-noise limited sensitivity that scales like $1/\sqrt{N}$, where $N$ is the number of particles passing through the interferometer per unit time. However, if carefully prepared quantum correlations are engineered between the particles, then the interferometer sensitivity improves by a factor of $\sqrt{N}$ to scale like 1/N, which is the limit imposed by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. For optical interferometers operating at milliwatts of optical power, this quantum sensitivity boost corresponds to an eight-order-of-magnitude improvement of signal to noise. This effect can translate into a tremendous science pay-off for space missions. For example, one application of this new effect is to fiber optical gyroscopes for deep-space inertial guidance and tests of General Relativity (Gravity Probe B). Another application is to ground and orbiting optical interferometers for gravity wave detection, Laser Interferometer Gravity Observatory (LIGO) and the European Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), respectively. Other applications are to Satellite-to-Satellite laser Interferometry (SSI) proposed for the next generation Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE II).
We optimize two-mode, entangled, number states of light in the presence of loss in order to maximize the extraction of the available phase information in an interferometer. Our approach optimizes over the entire available input Hilbert space with no constraints, other than fixed total initial photon number. We optimize to maximize the Fisher information, which is equivalent to minimizing the phase uncertainty. We find that in the limit of zero loss the optimal state is the so-called N00N state, for small loss, the optimal state gradually deviates from the N00N state, and in the limit of large …
In the lore of quantum metrology, one often hears (or reads) the following no-go theorem: If you put vacuum into one input port of a balanced Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, then no matter what you put into the other input port, and no matter what your detection scheme, the sensitivity can never be better than the shot noise limit (SNL). Often the proof of this theorem is cited to be in Ref. [C. Caves, Phys. Rev. D 23, 1693 (1981)], but upon further inspection, no such claim is made there. A quantum-Fisher-information-based argument suggestive of this no-go theorem appears in Ref. [M. Lang and C.…
Comment on "Quantum Interferometric Optical Lithography: Exploiting Entanglement to Beat the Diffraction Limit" The effective absorption rates in quantum lithography are very low.
Quantum technologies are opening novel avenues for applied and fundamental science at an impressive pace. In this perspective article, we focus on the promises coming from the combination of quantum technologies and space science to test the very foundations of quantum physics and, possibly, new physics. In particular, we survey the field of mesoscopic superpositions of nanoparticles and the potential of interferometric and non-interferometric experiments in space for the investigation of the superposition principle of quantum mechanics and the quantum-to-classical transition. We delve into th…
Quantum entanglement is the quintessence of quantum information processing mostly limited to the microscopic regime governed by Heisenberg uncertainty principle. For practical applications, however, macroscopic entanglement gives great benefits in both photon loss and sensitivity. Recently, a novel method of macroscopic entanglement generation has been proposed and demonstrated in a coupled interferometric system using classical laser light, where superposition between binary bases in each interferometric system plays a key role. Here, the function of path superposition applied to independent …
We apply a Kennedy-type detection scheme, which was originally proposed for a binary communications system, to interferometric sensing devices. We show that the minimum detectable perturbation of the proposed system reaches the ultimate precision bound which is predicted by Neyman-Pearson hypothesis testing. To provide concrete examples, we apply our interferometric scheme to phase shift detection by using coherent and squeezed probe fields.
Over the last several decades, entangled photon pairs generated from \c{hi}^((2)) nonlinear optical materials via spontaneous parametric down conversion processes have been intensively studied for various quantum correlations such as Bell inequality violation and anticorrelation. In a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the photonic de Broglie wavelength has also been studied for quantum sensing with an enhanced phase resolution overcoming the standard quantum limit. Here, the fundamental principles of quantumness are investigated in an interferometric scheme for controllable quantum correlation not …
We derive the weak value deflection given in a paper by Dixon et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 173601 (2009)) both quantum mechanically and classically. This paper is meant to cover some of the mathematical details omitted in that paper owing to space constraints.
Over the last several decades, entangled photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion processes in both second-order and third-order nonlinear optical materials have been intensively studied for various quantum features such as Bell inequality violation and anticorrelation. In an interferometric scheme, anticorrelation results from photon bunching based on randomness when entangled photon pairs coincidently impinge on a beam splitter. Compared with post-measurement-based probabilistic confirmation, a coherence version has been recently proposed using the wave nature of phot…
We derive a quantum limit to the sensitivity of laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors from optical-loss-induced dissipation, analogous to the sensitivity limit from the mechanical dissipation. It applies universally to different interferometer configurations, and cannot be surpassed unless the optical property is improved. This result provides an answer to the long-standing question of how far we can push the detector sensitivity given the state-of-the-art optics.
We provide a detailed description of the quantum interferometric thermometer, which is a device that estimates the temperature of a sample from the measurements of the optical phase. For the first time, we rigorously analyze the operation of such a device by studying the interaction of the optical probe system prepared in a single-mode Gaussian state with a heated sample modeled as a dissipative thermal reservoir. We find that this approach to thermometry is capable of measuring the temperature of a sample in the nanokelvin regime. Furthermore, we compare the fundamental precision of quantum i…
We derive the form of the quantum filter equation describing the continuous observation of the phase of a quantum system in an arm of an interferometer via non-demolition measurements when the statistics of an input field used for the indirect measurement are in a general coherent state. Both quadrature homodyne detection and photon-counting dection schemes are covered, and we solve the linearized filter for a specific application.
As demonstrated by Boto et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2733 (2000)], quantum lithography offers an increase in resolution below the diffraction limit. Here, we generalize this procedure in order to create patterns in one and two dimensions. This renders quantum lithography a potentially useful tool in nanotechnology.
In this work we consider quantum cascade networks in which quantum systems are connected through unidirectional channels that can mutually interact giving rise to interference effects. In particular we show how to compute master equations for cascade systems in an arbitrary interferometric configuration by means of a collisional model. We apply our general theory to two specific examples: the first consists in two systems arranged in a Mach-Zender-like configuration; the second is a three system network where it is possible to tune the effective chiral interactions between the nodes exploiting…
We investigate the notion of quantumness based on the non-commutativity of the algebra of observables and introduce a measure of quantumness based on the mutual incompatibility of quantum states. We show that such a quantity can be experimentally measured with an interferometric setup and that, when an arbitrary bipartition of a given composite system is introduced, it detects the one-way quantum correlations restricted to one of the two subsystems. We finally show that, by combining only two projective measurements and carrying out the interference procedure, our measure becomes an efficient …
We develop closed expressions for a time-resolved photon counting signal induced by an entangled photon pair in an interferometric spectroscopy setup. Superoperator expressions in Liouville-space are derived that can account for relaxation and dephasing induced by coupling to a bath. Interferometric setups mix matter and light variables non-trivially, which complicates their interpretation. We provide an intuitive modular framework for this setup that simplifies its description. Based on separation between the detection stage and the light-matter interaction processes. We show that the pair en…
This article describes the AC Stark, Stern-Gerlach, and Quantum Zeno effects as they are manifested during continuous interferometric measurement of a two-state quantum system (qubit). A simple yet realistic model of the interferometric measurement process is presented, and solved to all orders of perturbation theory in the absence of thermal noise. The statistical properties of the interferometric Stern-Gerlach effect are described in terms of a Fokker-Plank equation, and a closed-form expression for the Green's function of this equation is obtained. Thermal noise is added in the form of a ex…
We survey the inclusion of interferometric elements in nonlinear spectroscopy performed with quantum light. Controlled interference of electromagnetic fields coupled to matter can induce constructive or destructive contributions of microscopic coupling sequences (histories) of matter. Since quantum fields do not commute, quantum light signals are sensitive to the order of light-matter coupling sequence. Matter correlation functions are thus imprinted by different field factors, which depend on that order. We identify the associated quantum information obtained by controlling the weights of dif…
Quantum interference, like Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, has played an important role to test fundamental concepts in quantum physics. We experimentally show that the multiple quantum interference effects enable the generation of high-performance polarization entangled photons. These photons have a high-emission rate, are degenerate, have a broadband distribution, and are postselection free. A quantum interferometric scheme, based on a round-trip configuration of a double-pass polarization Sagnac interferometer, makes it possible to use the large generation efficiency of polarization entangled …
We consider many-body quantum systems dissipatively coupled by a cascade network, i.e. a setup in which interactions are mediated by unidirectional environmental modes propagating through a linear optical interferometer. In particular we are interested in the possibility of inducing different effective interactions by properly engineering an external dissipative network of beam-splitters and phase-shifters. In this work we first derive the general structure of the master equation for a symmetric class of translation-invariant cascade networks. Then we show how, by tuning the parameters of the …
Non-Markovian evolution in open quantum systems is often characterized in terms of the backflow of information from environment to system and is thus an important facet in investigating the performance and robustness of quantum information protocols. In this work, we explore non-Markovianity through the breakdown of monotonicity of a metrological figure of merit, called the quantum interferometric power, which is based on the minimal quantum Fisher information obtained by local unitary evolution of one part of the system, and can be interpreted as a quantifier of quantum correlations beyond en…
We present theoretical and experimental study of preparing maximally entangled two-photon polarization states, or Bell states, using femtosecond pulse pumped spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). First, we show how the inherent distinguishability in femtosecond pulse pumped type-II SPDC can be removed by using an interferometric technique without spectral and amplitude post-selection. We then analyze the recently introduced Bell state preparation scheme using type-I SPDC. Theoretically, both methods offer the same results, however, type-I SPDC provides experimentally superior methods …
One of the most fundamental quantum features is the two-photon intensity correlation on a beam splitter, resulting in photon bunching into either output port. According to the conventional understanding of quantum mechanics, the origin of photon bunching on a beam splitter is in the indistinguishable characteristics between coincident photons, resulting in destructive quantum interference even without a clear definition of phase information of the paired photons. Here, a completely different approach is presented for the same quantum feature, where a strong mutual phase dependency is the essen…
We propose an enhanced optical interferometer based on tailored non-classical light generated by nonlinear dynamics and projective measurements in a three-level atom cavity QED system. A coherent state in the cavity becomes dynamically entangled with two ground states of the atom and is transformed to a macroscopic superposition state via a projective measurement on the atom. We show that the resulting highly non-classical state can improve interferometric precision measurements well beyond the shot-noise limit once combined with a classical laser pulse at the input of a Mach-Zehnder interfero…
Quantum noise limits the sensitivity of interferometric measurements. It is generally admitted that it leads to an ultimate sensitivity, the ``standard quantum limit''. Using a semi-classical analysis of quantum noise, we show that a judicious use of squeezed states allows one in principle to push the sensitivity beyond this limit. This general method could be applied to large scale interferometers designed for gravitational wave detection.
Classical, interferometric, optical lithography is diffraction limited to writing features of a size lambda/2 or greater, where lambda is the optical wavelength. Using nonclassical photon number states, entangled N at a time, we show that it is possible to write features of minimum size lambda/(2N) in an N-photon absorbing substrate. This result surpasses the usual classical diffraction limit by a factor of N. Since the number of features that can be etched on a two-dimensional surface scales inversely as the square of the feature size, this allows one to write a factor of N^2 more elements on…
The Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) model is the best known and studied among collapse models, which modify quantum mechanics and identify the fundamental reasons behind the unobservability of quantum superpositions at the macroscopic scale. Albeit several tests were performed during the last decade, up to date the CSL parameter space still exhibits a vast unexplored region. Here, we study and propose an unattempted non-interferometric test aimed to fill this gap. We show that the angular momentum diffusion predicted by CSL heavily constrains the parametric values of the model when a…
We investigate theoretically and experimentally a nondestructive interferometric measurement of the state population of an ensemble of laser cooled and trapped atoms. This study is a step towards generation of (pseudo-) spin squeezing of cold atoms targeted at the improvement of the Caesium clock performance beyond the limit set by the quantum projection noise of atoms. We calculate the phase shift and the quantum noise of a near resonant optical probe pulse propagating through a cloud of cold 133Cs atoms. We analyze the figure of merit for a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of the col…
There are presently two models for quantum walks on graphs. The "coined" walk uses discrete time steps, and contains, besides the particle making the walk, a second quantum system, the coin, that determines the direction in which the particle will move. The continuous walk operates with continuous time. Here a third model for a quantum walk is proposed, which is based on an analogy to optical interferometers. It is a discrete-time model, and the unitary operator that advances the walk one step depends only on the local structure of the graph on which the walk is taking place. No quantum coin i…
We report a theoretical and experimental study on the role of indistinguishability in the estimation of an interferometric phase. In particular, we show that the quantum Fisher information, which limits the maximum precision achievable in the parameter estimation, increases linearly with respect to the degree of indistinguishability between the input photons in a two-port interferometer, in the ideal case of a pure probe state. We experimentally address the role played by the indistinguishability for the case of two photons entering a polarization-based interferometer, where the degree of indi…
There are quantum solutions for computational problems that make use of interference at some stage in the algorithm. These stages can be mapped into the physical setting of a single particle travelling through a many-armed interferometer. There has been recent foundational interest in theories beyond quantum theory. Here, we present a generalized formulation of computation in the context of a many-armed interferometer, and explore how theories can differ from quantum theory and still perform distributed calculations in this set-up. We shall see that quaternionic quantum theory proves a suitabl…
We have experimentally demonstrated the interferometric complementarity, which relates the distinguishability $D$ quantifying the amount of which-way (WW) information to the fringe visibility $V$ characterizing the wave feature of a quantum entity, in a bulk ensemble by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques. We primarily concern on the intermediate cases: partial fringe visibility and incomplete WW information. We propose a quantitative measure of $D$ by an alternative geometric strategy and investigate the relation between $D$ and entanglement. By measuring $D$ and $V$ independently, it…
The intrinsically non-linear rotation dynamics of rigid bodies offer unprecedented ways to exploit their quantum motion. In this Letter we devise a rotational analog of Mach-Zehnder interferometry, which allows steering symmetric rotors from fully aligned to completely antialigned. The scheme uses a superposition of four distinct orientations, emerging at the eighth of the quantum revival time, whose interference can be controlled by a weak laser pulse. We develop a semiclassical model of the effect and demonstrate that it persists even in presence of imperfections and decoherence.
We analyse the role of the dynamical Casimir effect as a resource for quantum technologies, such as quantum cryptography and quantum metrology. In particular, we consider the generation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering and Gaussian interferometric power, two useful forms of asymmetric quantum correlations, in superconducting waveguides modulated by superconducting quantum interferometric devices. We show that, while a certain value of squeezing is required to overcome thermal noise and give rise to steering, any non-zero squeezing produces interferometric power which in fact increases with …
It is shown that the addition of down-converted photon pairs to coherent laser light enhances the N-photon phase sensitivity due to the quantum interference between components of the same total photon number. Since most of the photons originate from the coherent laser light, this method of obtaining non-classical N-photon states is much more efficient than methods based entirely on parametrically down-converted photons. Specifically, it is possible to achieve an optimal phase sensitivity of about delta phi^2=1/N^(3/2), equal to the geometric mean of the standard quantum limit and the Heisenber…
The technological refinement of experimental techniques has recently allowed the generation of two-photon polarization-entangled states at low Earth orbit, which has been subsequently applied to quantum communications. This achievement paves the way to study the interplay between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics in new setups. Here, we study the generation of two-photon energy-time entangled states via large scale Franson and Hugged interferometric arrays in the presence of a weak gravitational field. We show that for certain configurations of the arrays, an entangled state emerges as …
We investigate the non-Markovianity of continuous variable Gaussian quantum channels through the evolution of an operational metrological quantifier, namely the Gaussian interferometric power, which captures the minimal precision that can be achieved using bipartite Gaussian probes in a black-box phase estimation setup, where the phase shift generator is \emph{a priori} unknown. We observe that the monotonicity of the Gaussian interferometric power under the action of local Gaussian quantum channels on the ancillary arm of the bipartite probes is a natural indicator of Markovian dynamics; cons…
Correlated photons inspire abundance of metrology-related platforms, which benefit from quantum (anti-) correlations and outperform their classical-light counterparts. While such demonstrations mainly focus on entanglement, the role of photon exchange-phase and degree of distinguishability have not been widely utilized in quantum-enhanced applications. Using an interferometric setup we show that even at low degree entanglement, when a two-photon wave-function is coupled to matter, it is encoded with a reliable "which pathway?" information. An interferometric exchange-phase-cycling protocol is …
A methodology is introduced that enables an absolute, quantum-limited measurement of sub-wavelength interferometric displacements. The technique utilizes a high-frequency optical path modulation within an interferometer operated in a homodyne configuration. All of the information necessary to fully characterize the resultant path displacement is contained within the relative strengths of the various harmonics of the phase modulation. The method, which is straightforward and readily implementable, allows a direct measurement of the theoretical Cramér-Rao limit of detection without any assumptio…
Optomechanical sensors involving multiple optical carriers can experience mechanically mediated interactions causing multi-mode correlations across the optical fields. One instance is laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors which introduce multiple carrier frequencies for classical sensing and control purposes. An outstanding question is whether such multi-carrier optomechanical sensors outperform their single-carrier counterpart in terms of quantum-limited sensitivity. We show that the best precision is achieved by a single-carrier instance of the sensor. For the current LIGO detec…
Optical interferometric tools for probing memory effects
S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences（S. N. Bose 基础科学国家中心）；Indian Statistical Institute（印度统计研究所）；International Institute of Information Technology（国际信息技术学院）；Indian Institute of Technology Goa（印度理工学院果阿分校）
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…
Imaging using interferometer arrays based on the Van Cittert-Zernike theorem has been widely used in astronomical observation. Recently it was shown that superresolution can be achieved in this system for imaging two weak thermal point sources. Using quantum estimation theory, we consider the fundamental quantum limit of resolving the transverse separation of two strong thermal point sources using interferometer arrays, and show that the resolution is not limited by the longest baseline. We propose measurement techniques using linear beam splitters and photon-number-resolving detection to achi…
We discuss the role of an external phase reference in quantum interferometry. We point out inconsistencies in the literature with regard to the use of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) in phase estimation interferometric schemes. We discuss the interferometric schemes with and without an external phase reference and show a proper way to use QFI in both situations.
Interferometric complementarity is known to be one of the most nonclassical manifestations of the quantum formalism. It is commonly known as wave-particle duality and has been studied presently from the perspective of quantum information theory where wave and particle nature of a quantum system, called quanton, are characterised by coherence and path distinguishability respectively. We here consider the effect of noisy detectors on the complementarity relation. We report that by suitably choosing the initial quanton and the detector states along with the proper interactions between the quanton…
Light-matter interfaces enable the generation of entangled states of light and matter which can be exploited to steer the quantum state of matter through measurement of light and feedback. Here we consider continuous-time, interferometric homodyne measurements of light on an array of light-matter interfaces followed by local feedback acting on each material system individually. While the systems are physically non-interacting, the feedback master equation we derive describes driven-dissipative, interacting many-body quantum dynamics, and comprises pairwise Hamiltonian interactions and collecti…
It has long been thought that the sensitivity of laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors is limited by the free-mass standard quantum limit, unless radical redesigns of the interferometers or modifications of their input/output optics are introduced. Within a fully quantum-mechanical approach we show that in a second-generation interferometer composed of arm cavities and a signal recycling cavity, e.g., the LIGO-II configuration, (i) quantum shot noise and quantum radiation-pressure-fluctuation noise are dynamically correlated, (ii) the noise curve exhibits two resonant dips, (iii) …
Near-field interferometry with large dielectric nano-particles opens the way to test fundamental modification of standard quantum mechanics at an unprecedented level. We showcase the capabilities of such platform, in a state-of-the-art ground-based experimental set-up, to set new stringent bounds on the parameters space of collapse models and highlight the future perspective for this class of experiments.
