arXiv subjects

Da-Jian Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Da-Jian Zhang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Superiority of Krylov shadow tomography in estimating quantum Fisher information: From bounds to exactness

Estimating the quantum Fisher information (QFI) is a crucial yet challenging task with widespread applications across quantum science and technologies. The recently proposed Krylov shadow tomography (KST) opens a new avenue for this task by introducing a series of Krylov bounds on the QFI. In this work, we address the practical applicability of the KST, unveiling that the Krylov bounds of low orders already enable efficient and accurate estimation of the QFI. We show that the Krylov bounds converge to the QFI exponentially fast with increasing order and can surpass the state-of-the-art polynomial lower bounds known to date. Moreover, we show that certain low-order Krylov bound can already match the QFI exactly for low-rank states prevalent in practical settings. Such exact match is beyond the reach of polynomial lower bounds proposed previously. These theoretical findings, solidified by extensive numerical simulations, demonstrate practical advantages over existing polynomial approaches, holding promise for fully unlocking the effectiveness of QFI-based applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Survival of Hermitian Criticality in the Non-Hermitian Framework

In this work, we investigate many-body phase transitions in a one-dimensional anisotropic XY model subject to a complex-valued transverse field. Within the biorthogonal framework, we calculate the ground-state correlation functions and entanglement entropy, confirming that their scaling behavior remains identical to that in the Hermitian XY model. The preservation of Hermitian phase transition features in the non-Hermitian setting is rooted in the persistence and emergence of symmetries and their breaking. Specifically, the ferromagnetic (FM) phase arises from the breaking of a $Z_2$ symmetry, while the Luttinger liquid (LL) phase is enabled by the emergence of a $U(1)$ symmetry together with the degeneracy of the real part of the energy spectrum. The nontrivial topology of the LL phase are characterized by the winding number around the exceptional point (EP). Given that non-Hermitian systems are inherently open, this research opens a new avenue for exploring conventional quantum phase transitions that are typically vulnerable to decoherence and environmental disruption in open quantum systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Unified and computable approach to optimal strategies for multiparameter estimation

Precise estimation of physical parameters underpins both scientific discovery and technological development. A central goal of quantum metrology and sensing is to exploit quantum resources like entanglement to devise optimal strategies for estimating physical parameters as precisely as possible. While substantial progress has been made in single-parameter quantum metrology, the multiparameter scenario remains significantly more challenging due to the issue of parameter incompatibility. In this work, we present a unified and computable approach for the simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters that attains the ultimate precision permitted by quantum mechanics. The core of our approach is to integrate the quantum tester formalism into the recently proposed tight Cramér-Rao type bound. This formulation enables us to figure out the highest achievable precision via upper and lower bounds that are computable via semidefinite programs. More importantly, within this formulation, diverse quantum resources, including entanglement, coherence, quantum control, and indefinite causal order, are treated on equal footing and systematically optimized for the purpose of achieving the ultimate precision in multiparameter estimation. As a result, our approach is applicable to various metrological strategies both in the presence and absence of noise. To demonstrate its utility, we revisit three-dimensional magnetic-field estimation, uncovering the strengths and limitations of existing analytical results and further establishing a strict hierarchy among different types of strategies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Scalable protocol to coherence estimation from scarce data: Theory and experiment

Key quantum features like coherence are the fundamental resources enabling quantum advantages and ascertaining their presence in quantum systems is crucial for developing quantum technologies. This task, however, faces severe challenges in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era. On one hand, experimental data are typically scarce, rendering full state reconstruction infeasible. On the other hand, these features are usually quantified by highly nonlinear functionals that elude efficient estimations via existing methods. In this work, we propose a scalable protocol for estimating coherence from scarce data and further experimentally demonstrate its practical utility. The key innovation here is to relax the potentially NP-hard coherence estimation problem into a computationally efficient optimization. This renders the computational cost in our protocol insensitive to the system size, in sharp contrast to the exponential growth in traditional methods. This work opens a novel route toward estimating coherence of large-scale quantum systems under data-scarce conditions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Krylov shadow tomography: Efficient estimation of quantum Fisher information

Efficiently estimating the quantum Fisher information (QFI) is pivotal in quantum information science but remains an outstanding challenge for large systems due to its high nonlinearity. In this Letter, we tackle this long-standing challenge by integrating the Krylov subspace method--a celebrated tool from applied mathematics--into the framework of shadow tomography. The integrated technique, dubbed Krylov shadow tomography (KST), enables us to formulate a strict hierarchy of non-polynomial lower bounds on the QFI, among which the highest one matches the QFI exactly. We show that all the bounds can be expressed as expected values of the inverses of Hankel matrices, which are accessible via shadow tomography. Our KST therefore opens up a resource-efficient and experimentally feasible avenue to estimate not only non-polynomial lower bounds but also the QFI itself.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Retrieving maximum information of symmetric states from their corrupted copies

Using quantum measurements to extract information from states is a matter of routine in quantum science and technologies. A recent work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 040202 (2024)] reported the finding that the symmetric structures of a state can be harnessed to dramatically reduce the sample complexity in extracting information from the state. However, due to the presence of noise, the actual state at hand is often corrupted, making its symmetric structures distorted before the execution of quantum measurements. Here, using the methodology of quantum metrology, we identify the optimal measurement that can retrieve maximum information of a symmetric state from its corrupted copies. We show that this measurement can be found by solving a semidefinite program in generic cases and can be explicitly determined for a large class of noise models covariant under the symmetry group in question. The results of this study nicely complement the recent work by providing a method to optimally utilize the distorted symmetric structures of corrupted states for information retrieval.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Strict hierarchy of optimal strategies for global estimations: Linking global estimations with local ones

A crucial yet challenging issue in quantum metrology is to ascertain the ultimate precision achievable in estimation strategies. While there are two paradigms of estimations, local and global, current research is largely confined to local estimations, which are useful once the parameter of interest is approximately known. In this Letter we target a paradigm shift towards global estimations, which can operate reliably even with a few measurement data and no substantial prior knowledge about the parameter. The key innovation here is to develop a technique, dubbed virtual imaginary time evolution, which establishes an equality between the information gained in a global estimation and the quantum Fisher information for a virtual local estimation. This offers an intriguing pathway to surmount challenges in the realm of global estimations by leveraging powerful tools tailored for local estimations. We explore our technique to reveal a strict hierarchy of achievable precision for different global estimation strategies and uncover unexpected results contrary to conventional wisdom in local estimations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Inferring physical properties of symmetric states from the fewest copies

Learning physical properties of high-dimensional states is crucial for developing quantum technologies but usually consumes an exceedingly large number of samples which are difficult to afford in practice. In this Letter, we use the methodology of quantum metrology to tackle this difficulty, proposing a strategy built upon entangled measurements for dramatically reducing sample complexity. The strategy, whose characteristic feature is symmetrization of observables, is powered by the exploration of symmetric structures of states which are ubiquitous in physics. It is provably optimal under some natural assumption, efficiently implementable in a variety of contexts, and capable of being incorporated into existing methods as a basic building block. We apply the strategy to different scenarios motivated by experiments, demonstrating exponential reductions in sample complexity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Non-Hermitian Floquet Topological Matter -- A Review

The past few years have witnessed a surge of interest in non-Hermitian Floquet topological matters due to their exotic properties resulting from the interplay between driving fields and non-Hermiticity. The present review sums up our studies on non-Hermitian Floquet topological matters in one and two spatial dimensions. We first give a bird's-eye view of the literature for clarifying the physical significance of non-Hermitian Floquet systems. We then introduce, in a pedagogical manner, a number of useful tools tailored for the study of non-Hermitian Floquet systems and their topological properties. With the aid of these tools, we present typical examples of non-Hermitian Floquet topological insulators, superconductors, and quasicrystals, with a focus on their topological invariants, bulk-edge correspondences, non-Hermitian skin effects, dynamical properties, and localization transitions. We conclude this review by summarizing our main findings and presenting our vision of future directions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Correlation-induced coherence and its use in detecting quantum phase transitions

The past two decades have witnessed a surge of interest in exploring correlation and coherence measures to investigate quantum phase transitions (QPTs). Here, motivated by the continued push along this direction, we propose a measure which is built upon the so-called degree of coherence, and advocate using the susceptibility of our measure to detect QPTs. We show that our measure can capture both the notions of coherence and correlations exhibited in bipartite states and therefore represents a hybrid of these two notions. Through examining the XXZ model and the Kitaev honeycomb model, we demonstrate that our measure is favorable for detecting QPTs in comparison to many previous proposals.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Approaching Heisenberg-scalable thermometry with built-in robustness against noise

It is a major goal in quantum thermometry to reach a $1/N$ scaling of thermometric precision known as Heisenberg scaling but is still in its infancy to date. The main obstacle is that the resources typically required are highly entangled states, which are very difficult to produce and extremely vulnerable to noises. Here, we propose an entanglement-free scheme of thermometry to approach Heisenberg scaling for a wide range of $N$, which has built-in robustness irrespective of the type of noise in question. Our scheme is amenable to a variety of experimental setups. Moreover, it can be used as a basic building block for promoting previous proposals of thermometry to reach Heisenberg scaling, and its applications are not limited to thermometry but can be straightforwardly extended to other metrological tasks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Two geometric phases can dramatically differ from each other even if their evolution paths are sufficiently close in a pointwise manner

One milestone in quantum physics is Berry's seminal work [Proc.~R.~Soc.~Lond.~A \textbf{392}, 45 (1984)], in which a quantal phase factor known as geometric phase was discovered to solely depend on the evolution path in state space. Here, we unveil that even an infinitesimal deviation of the initial state from the eigenstate of the initial Hamiltonian can yield a significant change of the geometric phase accompanying an adiabatic evolution. This leads to the surprising observation that two geometric phases can dramatically differ from each other even if their evolution paths are sufficiently close in a pointwise manner.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Visualizing quantum phase transitions in the XXZ model via the quantum steering ellipsoid

The past two decades have witnessed a surge of interest in borrowing tools from quantum information theory to investigate quantum phase transitions (QPTs). The best known examples are entanglement measures whose nonanalyticities at critical points were tied to QPTs in a plethora of physical models. Here, focusing on the XXZ model, we show how QPTs can be revealed through the quantum steering ellipsoid (QSE), which is a geometric tool capable of characterizing both the strength and type of quantum correlations between two subsystems of a compound system. We find that the QSE associated with the XXZ model changes in shape with the QPTs, that is, it is a needle in the ferromagnetic phase, an oblate spheroid in the gapless phase, and a prolate spheroid in the antiferromagnetic phase. This finding offers an example demonstrating the intriguing possibility of unveiling QPTs in a geometrically visible fashion. Some connections between our results and previous ones are discussed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Dissipative Adiabatic Measurements: Beating the Quantum Cramér-Rao Bound

It is challenged only recently that the precision attainable in any measurement of a physical parameter is fundamentally limited by the quantum Cramér-Rao Bound (QCRB). Here, targeting at measuring parameters in strongly dissipative systems, we propose an innovative measurement scheme called {\it dissipative adiabatic measurement} and theoretically show that it can beat the QCRB. Unlike projective measurements, our measurement scheme, though consuming more time, does not collapse the measured state and, more importantly, yields the expectation value of an observable as its measurement outcome, which is directly connected to the parameter of interest. Such a direct connection {allows to extract} the value of the parameter from the measurement outcomes in a straightforward manner, with no fundamental limitation on precision in principle. Our findings not only provide a marked insight into quantum metrology but also are highly useful in dissipative quantum information processing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Topological characterization of one-dimensional open fermionic systems

A topological measure characterizing symmetry-protected topological phases in one-dimensional open fermionic systems is proposed. It is built upon the kinematic approach to the geometric phase of mixed states and facilitates the extension of the notion of topological phases from zero-temperature to nonzero-temperature cases. In contrast to a previous finding that topological properties may not survive above a certain critical temperature, we find that topological properties of open systems, in the sense of the measure suggested here, can persist at any finite temperature and disappear only in the mathematical limit of infinite temperature. Our result is illustrated with two paradigmatic models of topological matter. The bulk topology at nonzero temperatures manifested as robust mixed edge state populations is examined via two figures of merit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Dissipative Quantum Metrology

Conventional strategies of quantum metrology are built upon POVMs, thereby possessing several general features, including the demolition of the state to be measured, the need of performing a number of measurements, and the degradation of performance under decoherence and dissipation. Here, we propose an innovative measurement scheme, called dissipative adiabatic measurements (DAMs), based on which, we further develop an approach to estimation of parameters characterizing dissipative processes. Unlike a POVM, whose outcome is one of the eigenvalues of an observable, a DAM yields the expectation value of the observable as its outcome, without collapsing the state to be measured. By virtue of the very nature of DAMs, our approach is capable of solving the estimation problem in a state-protective fashion with only $M$ measurements, where $M$ is the number of parameters to be estimated. More importantly, contrary to the common wisdom, it embraces decoherence and dissipation as beneficial effects and offers a Heisenberg-like scaling of precision, thus outperforming conventional strategies. Our DAM-based approach is direct, efficient, and expected to be immensely useful in the context of dissipative quantum information processing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Revealing many-body effects on interband coherence through adiabatic charge pumping

The adiabatic charge pumping of a non-equilibrium state of spinless fermions in a one-dimensional lattice is investigated, with an emphasis placed on its usefulness in revealing many-body interaction effects on interband coherence. For a non-interacting system, the pumped charge per adiabatic cycle depends not only on the topology of the occupied bands but also on the interband coherence in the initial state. This insight leads to an interesting opportunity for quantitatively observing how quantum coherence is affected by many-body interaction that is switched on for a varying duration prior to adiabatic pumping. In particular, interband coherence effects can be clearly observed by adjusting the switch-on rates with different adiabatic pumping protocols and by scanning the duration of many-body interaction prior to adiabatic pumping. The time dependence of single-particle interband coherence in the presence of many-body interaction can then be examined in detail. As a side but interesting result, for relatively weak interaction strength, it is found that the difference in the pumped charges between different pumping protocols vanishes if a coherence measure defined from the single-particle density matrix in the sublattice representation reaches its local minima. Our results hence provide an interesting means to quantitatively probe the dynamics of quantum coherence in the presence of many-body interaction (e.g., in a thermalization process).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Time-dependent $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics in generic non-Hermitian systems

$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics has been considered an important theoretical framework for understanding physical phenomena in $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric systems, with a number of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry related applications. This line of research was made possible by the introduction of a time-independent metric operator to redefine the inner product of a Hilbert space. To treat the dynamics of generic non-Hermitian systems under equal footing, we advocate in this work the use of a time-dependent metric operator for the inner-product between time-evolving states. This treatment makes it possible to always interpret the dynamics of arbitrary (finite-dimensional) non-Hermitian systems in the framework of time-dependent $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric quantum mechanics, with unitary time evolution, real eigenvalues of an energy observable, and quantum measurement postulate all restored. Our work sheds new lights on generic non-Hermitian systems and spontaneous $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry breaking in particular. We also illustrate possible applications of our formulation with well-known examples in quantum thermodynamics.

quant-ph↗