arXiv subjects

Fabrizia Somma

Publications and source records attributed to Fabrizia Somma.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

First FAMU observation of muon transfer from mu-p atoms to higher-Z elements

The FAMU experiment aims to accurately measure the hyperfine splitting of the ground state of the muonic hydrogen atom. A measurement of the transfer rate of muons from hydrogen to heavier gases is necessary for this purpose. In June 2014, within a preliminary experiment, a pressurized gas-target was exposed to the pulsed low-energy muon beam at the RIKEN RAL muon facility (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK). The main goal of the test was the characterization of both the noise induced by the pulsed beam and the X-ray detectors. The apparatus, to some extent rudimental, has served admirably to this task. Technical results have been published that prove the validity of the choices made and pave the way for the next steps. This paper presents the results of physical relevance of measurements of the muon transfer rate to carbon dioxide, oxygen, and argon from non-thermalized excited mu-p atoms. The analysis methodology and the approach to the systematics errors are useful for the subsequent study of the transfer rate as function of the kinetic energy of the mu-p currently under way.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2017

Entangling measurements for multiparameter estimation with two qubits

Careful tailoring the quantum state of probes offers the capability of investigating matter at unprecedented precisions. Rarely, however, the interaction with the sample is fully encompassed by a single parameter, and the information contained in the probe needs to be partitioned on multiple parameters. There exist then practical bounds on the ultimate joint-estimation precision set by the unavailability of a single optimal measurement for all parameters. Here we discuss how these considerations are modified for two-level quantum probes - qubits - by the use of two copies and entangling measurements. We find that the joint estimation of phase and phase diffusion benefits from such collective measurement, while for multiple phases, no enhancement can be observed. We demonstrate this in a proof-of-principle photonics setup.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Information-thermodynamics of Quantum Generalized Measurements

Landauer's principle introduces a symmetry between computational and physical processes: erasure of information, a logically irreversible operation, must be underlain by an irreversible transformation dissipating energy. Monitoring micro- and nano-systems needs to enter into the energetic balance of their control; hence, finding the ultimate limits is instrumental to the development of future thermal machines operating at the quantum level. We report on the experimental investigation of a bound to the irreversible entropy associated to generalized quantum measurements on a quantum bit. We adopted a quantum photonics gate to implement a device interpolating from the weakly disturbing to the fully invasive and maximally informative regime. Our experiment prompted us to introduce a bound taking into account both the classical result of the measurement and the outcoming quantum state; unlike previous investigation, our new entropic bound is based uniquely on measurable quantities. Our results highlight what insights the information-theoretic approach can provide on building blocks of quantum information processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Metrology with Unknown Detectors

The best possible precision is one of the key figures in metrology, but this is established by the exact response of the detection apparatus, which is often unknown. There exist techniques for detector characterisation, that have been introduced in the context of quantum technologies, but apply as well for ordinary classical coherence; these techniques, though, rely on intense data processing. Here we show that one can make use of the simpler approach of data fitting patterns in order to obtain an estimate of the Cramér-Rao bound allowed by an unknown detector, and present applications in polarimetry. Further, we show how this formalism provide a useful calculation tool in an estimation problem involving a continuous-variable quantum state, i.e. a quantum harmonic oscillator.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Weak measurements and the joint estimation of phase and phase diffusion

Weak measurements offer the possibility of tuning the information acquired on a system, hence the imposed disturbance. This suggests that it could be a useful tool for multi-parameter estimation, when two parameters can not be measured simultaneously at the quantum limit. Here we discuss their use for phase estimation in the presence of phase diffusion in the context of polarimetry, a scenario which is conveniently cast in terms of a two-level quantum system in many relevant cases.

quant-ph↗