Quantum metrology with coherent superposition of two different coded channels*

Abstract

We investigate the advantage of coherent superposition of two different coded channels in quantum metrology. In a continuous variable system, we show that the Heisenberg limit 1/N can be beaten by the coherent superposition without the help of indefinite causal order. And in parameter estimation, we demonstrate that the strategy with the coherent superposition can perform better than the strategy with quantum switch which can generate indefinite causal order. We analytically obtain the general form of estimation precision in terms of the quantum Fisher information and further prove that the nonlinear Hamiltonian can improve the estimation precision and make the measurement uncertainty scale as 1/Nm for m ≥ 2. Our results can help to construct a high-precision measurement equipment, which can be applied to the detection of coupling strength and the test of time dilation and the modification of the canonical commutation relation.

Quantum Switch as a Thermodynamic Resource in the Context of Passive States

“…It implements the controlled superposition of orders in which two (or more) unitaries (or, more generally, quantum channels) are applied to a target system. Among other aspects, it has been shown that with the help of QS one can gain computational advantages [2,[6][7][8], communication advantages [9][10][11] or even the super Heisenberg limit in metrology [12][13][14][15][16]. For example, it has been predicted [10] that completely depolarizing quantum channels (which have zero capacity, i.e., they do not transmit any information), if superposed with the help of the QS, can be used for information transmition.…”