arXiv subjects

Animesh Datta

Publications and source records attributed to Animesh Datta.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Approaching quantum-limited metrology with imperfect detectors by using weak-value amplification

Weak value amplification (WVA) is a metrological protocol that amplifies ultra-small physical effects. However, the amplified outcomes necessarily occur with highly suppressed probabilities, leading to the extensive debate on whether the overall measurement precision is improved in comparison to that of conventional measurement (CM). Here, we experimentally demonstrate the unambiguous advantages of WVA that overcome practical limitations including noise and saturation of photo-detection and maintain a shot-noise-scaling precision for a large range of input light intensity well beyond the dynamic range of the photodetector. The precision achieved by WVA is six times higher than that of CM in our setup. Our results clear the way for the widespread use of WVA in applications involving the measurement of small signals including precision metrology and commercial sensors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum-enhanced stimulated emission microscopy

Nonlinear optical microscopy techniques have emerged as a set of successful tools for biological imaging. Stimulated emission microscopy belongs to a small subset of pump-probe techniques which can image non-fluorescent samples without requiring fluorescent labelling. However, its sensitivity has been shown to be ultimately limited by the quantum fluctuations in the probe beam. We propose and experimentally implement sub-shot-noise limited stimulated emission microscopy by preparing the probe pulse in an intensity-squeezed state. This technique paves the way for imaging delicate biological samples that have no detectable fluorescence with sensitivity beyond standard quantum fluctuations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum correlation of light mediated by gravity

We propose to explore the quantum nature of gravity using the correlation of light between two optomechanical cavities, and the quantumness of the correlation is witnessed by squeezing. As long as the gravity between the end mirrors of two cavities is quantum in the Newtonian limit, we show that the squeezing is always nonzero and monotonically increases as the mechanical property of the mirrors is improved. The proposed scheme provides a new pathway for testing the quantum nature of gravity systematically with tabletop experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum limits of localisation microscopy

We show that localisation microscopy of multiple weak, incoherent point sources with possibly different intensities in one spatial dimension is equivalent to estimating the amplitudes of a classical mixture of coherent states of a simple harmonic oscillator. This enables us to bound the multi-parameter covariance matrix for an unbiased estimator for the locations in terms of the quantum Fisher information matrix, which we obtained analytically. In the regime of arbitrarily small separations we find it to be no more than rank two -- implying that no more than two independent parameters can be estimated irrespective of the number of point sources. We use the eigenvalues of the classical and quantum Fisher information matrices to compare the performance of spatial-mode demultiplexing and direct imaging in localisation microscopy with respect to the quantum limits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Accrediting outputs of noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing devices

We present an accreditation protocol for the outputs of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices. By testing entire circuits rather than individual gates, our accreditation protocol can provide an upper-bound on the variation distance between noisy and noiseless probability distribution of the outputs of the target circuit of interest. Our accreditation protocol requires implementation of quantum circuits no larger than the target circuit, therefore it is practical in the near term and scalable in the long term. Inspired by trap-based protocols for the verification of quantum computations, our accreditation protocol assumes that noise in single-qubit gates is bounded (but potentially gate-dependent) in diamond norm. We allow for arbitrary spatial and temporal correlations in the noise affecting state preparation, measurements and two-qubit gates. We describe how to implement our protocol on real-world devices, and we also present a novel cryptographic protocol (which we call `mesothetic' protocol) inspired by our accreditation protocol.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum enhanced estimation of diffusion

Momentum diffusion is a possible mechanism for driving macroscopic quantum systems towards classical behaviour. Experimental tests of this hypothesis rely on a precise estimation of the strength of this diffusion. We show that quantum-mechanical squeezing offers significant improvements, including when measuring position. For instance, with 10dB of mechanical squeezing, experiments would require a tenth of proposed free-fall times. Momentum measurement is better by an additional factor of three, while another quadrature is close to optimal. These have particular implications for the space-based MAQRO proposal -- where it could rule out the spontaneous collapse theory due to Ghirardi, Rimini, and Weber -- as well as terrestrial optomechanical sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Fault-tolerant quantum metrology

We introduce the notion of fault-tolerant quantum metrology to overcome noise beyond our control -- associated with sensing the parameter, by reducing the noise in operations under our control -- associated with preparing and measuring probes and ancillae. To that end, we introduce noise thresholds to quantify the noise resilience of parameter estimation schemes. We demonstrate improved noise thresholds over the non-fault-tolerant schemes. We use quantum Reed-Muller codes to retrieve more information about a single phase parameter being estimated in the presence of full-rank Pauli noise. Using only error detection, as opposed to error correction, allows us to retrieve higher thresholds. We show that better devices, which can be engineered, can enable us to counter larger noise in the field beyond our control. Further improvements in fault-tolerant quantum metrology could be achieved by optimising in tandem parameter-specific estimation schemes and transversal quantum error correcting codes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Nonadaptive fault-tolerant verification of quantum supremacy with noise

Quantum samplers are believed capable of sampling efficiently from distributions that are classically hard to sample from. We consider a sampler inspired by the classical Ising model. It is nonadaptive and therefore experimentally amenable. Under a plausible conjecture, classical sampling upto additive errors from this model is known to be hard. We present a trap-based verification scheme for quantum supremacy that only requires the verifier to prepare single-qubit states. The verification is done on the same model as the original sampler, a square lattice, with only a constant overhead. We next revamp our verification scheme in two distinct ways using fault tolerance that preserves the nonadaptivity. The first has a lower overhead based on error correction with the same threshold as universal quantum computation. The second has a higher overhead but an improved threshold (1.97\%) based on error detection. We show that classically sampling upto additive errors is likely hard in both these schemes. Our results are applicable to other sampling problems such as the Instantaneous Quantum Polynomial-time (IQP) computation model. They should also assist near-term attempts at experimentally demonstrating quantum supremacy and guide long-term ones.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Evaluating the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound for multi-parameter quantum metrology

Only with the simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters are the quantum aspects of metrology fully revealed. This is due to the incompatibility of observables. The fundamental bound for multi-parameter quantum estimation is the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound (HCRB) whose evaluation has so far remained elusive. For finite-dimensional systems we recast its evaluation as a semidefinite program, with reduced size for rank-deficient states. We use this result to study phase and loss estimation in optical interferometry and three-dimensional magnetometry with noisy multi-qubit systems. For the former, we show that, in some regimes, it is possible to attain the HCRB with the optimal (single-copy) measurement for phase estimation. For the latter, we show a non-trivial interplay between the HCRB and incompatibility, and provide numerical evidence that projective single-copy measurements attain the HCRB in the noiseless two-qubit case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Towards a Spectroscopic Protocol for Unambiguous Detection of Quantum Coherence in Excitonic Energy Transport

The role of quantum effects in excitonic energy transport (EET) has been scrutinised intensely and with increasingly sophisticated experimental techniques. This increased complexity requires invoking correspondingly elaborate models to fit spectroscopic data before molecular parameters can be extracted. Possible quantum effects in EET can then be studied, but the conclusions are strongly contingent on the efficacy of the fitting and the accuracy of the model. To circumvent this challenge, we propose a witness for quantum coherence in EET that can be extracted directly from two-pulse pump-probe spectroscopy experimental data. We provide simulations to judge the feasibility of our approach. Somewhat counterintuitively, our protocol does not probe quantum coherence directly, but only indirectly through its implicit deletion. It allows for classical models with no quantum coherence to be decisively ruled out.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum leakage detection using a model-independent dimension witness

Users of quantum computers must be able to confirm they are indeed functioning as intended, even when the devices are remotely accessed. In particular, if the Hilbert space dimension of the components are not as advertised -- for instance if the qubits suffer leakage -- errors can ensue and protocols may be rendered insecure. We refine the method of delayed vectors, adapted from classical chaos theory to quantum systems, and apply it remotely on the IBMQ platform -- a quantum computer composed of transmon qubits. The method witnesses, in a model-independent fashion, dynamical signatures of higher-dimensional processes. We present evidence, under mild assumptions, that the IBMQ transmons suffer state leakage, with a $p$ value no larger than $5{\times}10^{-4}$ under a single qubit operation. We also estimate the number of shots necessary for revealing leakage in a two-qubit system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Covert sensing using floodlight illumination

We propose a scheme for covert active sensing using floodlight illumination from a THz-bandwidth amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source and heterodyne detection. We evaluate the quantum-estimation-theoretic performance limit of covert sensing, wherein a transmitter's attempt to sense a target phase is kept undetectable to a quantum-equipped passive adversary, by hiding the signal photons under the thermal noise floor. Despite the quantum state of each mode of the ASE source being mixed (thermal), and hence inferior compared to the pure coherent state of a laser mode, the thousand-times higher optical bandwidth of the ASE source results in achieving a substantially superior performance compared to a narrowband laser source by allowing the probe light to be spread over many more orthogonal temporal modes within a given integration time. Even though our analysis is restricted to single-mode phase sensing, this system could be applicable extendible for various practical optical sensing applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Subtleties of witnessing quantum coherence in non-isolated systems

Identifying non-classicality unambiguously and inexpensively is a long-standing open challenge in physics. The No-Signalling-In-Time protocol was developed as an experimental test for macroscopic realism, and serves as a witness of quantum coherence in isolated quantum systems by comparing the quantum state to its completely dephased counterpart. We show that it provides a lower bound on a certain resource-theoretic coherence monotone. We go on to generalise the protocol to the case where the system of interest is coupled to an environment. Depending on the manner of the generalisation, the resulting witness either reports on system coherence alone, or on a disjunction of system coherence with either (i) the existence of non-classical system-environment correlations or (ii) non-negligible dynamics in the environment. These are distinct failure modes of the Born approximation in non-isolated systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Fundamental quantum limits of multi-carrier optomechanical sensors

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 detection system this precision is already reachable.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Reducing resources for verification of quantum computations

We present two verification protocols where the correctness of a "target" computation is checked by means of "trap" computations that can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer. Our protocols rely on a minimal set of noise-free operations (preparation of eight single-qubit states or measurement of four observables, both on a single plane of the Bloch sphere) and achieve linear overhead. To the best of our knowledge, our protocols are the least demanding techniques able to achieve linear overhead. They represent a step towards further reducing the quantum requirements for verification.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

The Quantum Theil Index: Characterizing Graph Centralization using von Neumann Entropy

We show that the von Neumann entropy (from herein referred to as the von Neumann index) of a graph's trace normalized combinatorial Laplacian provides structural information about the level of centralization across a graph. This is done by considering the Theil index, which is an established statistical measure used to determine levels of inequality across a system of `agents', e.g., income levels across a population. Here, we establish a Theil index for graphs, which provides us with a macroscopic measure of graph centralization. Concretely, we show that the von Neumann index can be used to bound the graph's Theil index, and thus we provide a direct characterization of graph centralization via the von Neumann index. Because of the algebraic similarities between the bound and the Theil index, we call the bound the von Neumann Theil index. %From an information theoretic perspective, the von Neumann Theil index describes the mutual information between the quantum state corresponding to a graph and the maximally mixed state (which corresponds to the complete graph). We elucidate our ideas by providing examples and a discussion of different $n=7$ vertex graphs. We also discuss how the von Neumann Theil index provides a more comprehensive measure of centralization when compared to traditional centralization measures, and when compared to the graph's classical Theil index. This is because it more accurately accounts for macro-structural changes that occur from micro-structural changes in the graph (e.g., the removal of a vertex). Finally, we provide future direction, showing that the von Neumann Theil index can be generalized by considering the Rényi entropy. We then show that this generalization can be used to bound the negative logarithm of the graph's Jain fairness index.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2017

Bounding the quantum limits of precision for phase estimation with loss and thermal noise

We consider the problem of estimating an unknown but constant carrier phase modulation $θ$ using a general -- possibly entangled -- $n$-mode optical probe through $n$ independent and identical uses of a lossy bosonic channel with additive thermal noise. We find an upper bound to the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of estimating $θ$ as a function of $n$, the mean and variance of the total number of photons $N_{\rm S}$ in the $n$-mode probe, the transmissivity $η$ and mean thermal photon number per mode ${\bar n}_{\rm B}$ of the bosonic channel. Since the inverse of QFI provides a lower bound to the mean-squared error (MSE) of an unbiased estimator $\tildeθ$ of $θ$, our upper bound to the QFI provides a lower bound to the MSE. It already has found use in proving fundamental limits of covert sensing, and could find other applications requiring bounding the fundamental limits of sensing an unknown parameter embedded in a correlated field.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Reaching for the quantum limits in the simultaneous estimation of phase and phase diffusion

Phase diffusion invariably accompanies all phase estimation strategies -- quantum or classical. A precise estimation of the former can often provide valuable understanding of the physics of the phase generating phenomena itself. We theoretically examine the performance of fixed-particle number probe states in the simultaneous estimation of phase and collective phase diffusion. We derive analytical quantum limits associated with the simultaneous local estimation of phase and phase diffusion within the quantum Cramer-Rao bound framework in the regimes of large and small phase diffusive noise. The former is for a general fixed-particle number state and the latter for Holland Burnett states, for which we show quantum-enhanced estimation of phase as well as phase diffusion. We next investigate the simultaneous attainability of these quantum limits using projective measurements acting on a single copy of the state in terms of a trade-off relation. In particular, we are interested how this trade-off varies as a function of the dimension of the state. We derive an analytical bound for this trade-off in the large phase diffusion regime for a particular form of the measurement, and show that the maximum of 2, set by the quantum Cramer-Rao bound, is attainable. Further, we show numerical evidence that as diffusion approaches zero, the optimal trade-off relation approaches 1 for Holland-Burnett states. These numerical results are valid in the small particle number regime and suggest that the trade-off for estimating one parameter with quantum-limited precision leads to a complete lack of precision for the other parameter as the diffusion strength approaches zero. Finally, we provide numerical results showing behaviour of the trade-off for a general value of phase diffusion when using Holland-Burnett probe states.

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