arXiv subjects

Marco G. Genoni

Publications and source records attributed to Marco G. Genoni.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Daemonic ergotropy in continuously-monitored open quantum batteries

The amount of work that can be extracted from a quantum system can be increased by exploiting the information obtained from a measurement performed on a correlated ancillary system. The concept of daemonic ergotropy has been introduced to properly describe and quantify this work extraction enhancement in the quantum regime. We here explore the application of this idea in the context of continuously-monitored open quantum systems, where information is gained by measuring the environment interacting with the energy-storing quantum device. We first show that the corresponding daemonic ergotropy takes values between the ergotropy and the energy of the corresponding unconditional state. The upper bound is achieved by assuming an initial pure state and a perfectly efficient projective measurement on the environment, independently of the kind of measurement performed. On the other hand, if the measurement is inefficient or the initial state is mixed, the daemonic ergotropy is generally dependent on the measurement strategy. This scenario is investigated via a paradigmatic example of an open quantum battery: a two-level atom driven by a classical field and whose spontaneously emitted photons are continuously monitored via either homodyne, heterodyne, or photo-detection.

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arXiv2023

Charging a quantum battery in a non-Markovian environment: a collisional model approach

We study the effect of non-Markovianity in the charging process of an open-system quantum battery. We employ a collisional model framework, where the environment is described by a discrete set of ancillary systems and memory effects in the dynamics can be introduced by allowing these ancillas to interact. We study in detail the behaviour of the steady-state ergotropy and the impact of the information backflow to the system on the different features characterizing the charging process. Remarkably, we find that there is a maximum value of the ergotropy achievable: this value can be obtained either in the presence of memoryless environment, but only in the large-loss limit, as derived in [D. Farina et al., Phys. Rev. B 99, 035421 (2019)], or in the presence of an environment with memory also beyond the large-loss limit. In general, we show that the presence of an environment with memory allows us to generate steady-state ergotropy near to its maximum value for a much larger region in the parameter space and thus potentially in a shorter time. Relying on the geometrical measure of non-Markovianity, we show that in both the cases of an environment with and without memory the ergotropy maximum is obtained when the non-Markovianity of the dynamics of the battery is zero, possibly as the result of a non-trivial interplay between the memory effects induced by, respectively, the environment and the charger connected to the battery.

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arXiv2022

Feedback-assisted quantum search by continuous-time quantum walks

We address the quantum search of a target node on a cycle graph by means of a quantum walk assisted by continuous measurement and feedback. Unlike previous spatial search approaches, where the oracle is described as a projector on the target state, we instead consider a dynamical oracle implemented through a feedback Hamiltonian. In particular, our protocol is able to drive the walker to a desired target node. The idea is based on continuously monitoring the position of the quantum walker on the graph and then to apply a unitary feedback operation based on the information obtained from measurement. The feedback changes the couplings between the nodes and it is optimized at each time via a numerical procedure. We numerically simulate the stochastic trajectories describing the evolution for graphs of dimensions up to $N=15$, and quantify the performance of the protocol via the average fidelity between the state of the walker and the target node. We discuss different constraints on the control strategy, in particular on the possible values that the feedback couplings can take. We find that for unbounded controls, the protocol is able to quickly localize the walker on the target node. We then discuss how the performance is lowered by posing an upper bound on the control couplings, but still allowing to stabilize the walker in the desired node. Finally, we show how a digital feedback protocol, where the couplings can take values only from a discrete set, seems in general as efficient as the continuous bounded one.

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arXiv2022

Learning feedback control strategies for quantum metrology

We consider the problem of frequency estimation for a single bosonic field evolving under a squeezing Hamiltonian and continuously monitored via homodyne detection. In particular, we exploit reinforcement learning techniques to devise feedback control strategies achieving increased estimation precision. We show that the feedback control determined by the neural network greatly surpasses in the long-time limit the performances of both the "no-control" strategy and the standard "open-loop control" strategy, which we considered as benchmarks. We indeed observe how the devised strategy is able to optimize the nontrivial estimation problem by preparing a large fraction of trajectories corresponding to more sensitive quantum conditional states.

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arXiv2022

Phase noise mitigation by a realistic optical parametric oscillator

We address the exploitation of an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in the task of mitigating, at least partially, phase noise produced by phase diffusion. In particular, we analyze two scenarios where phase diffusion is typically present. The first one is the measurement of the phase of a noisy optical field, while the second involves a quantum estimation scheme of a phase shift imposed on a noisy probe. In both cases, we prove that an OPO may lead to a partial or full compensation of the noise.

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arXiv2022

Noise-assisted and monitoring-enhanced quantum bath tagging

We analyze the capability of discriminating the statistical nature of a thermal bath by exploiting the interaction with an additional environment. We first shows that, at difference with the standard scenario where the additional environment is not present, the modified evolution induced by the mere presence of the extra bath allows to improve the discrimination task. We then also consider the possibility of continuously monitoring the additional environment and we discuss in detail how to obtain improved performances in the discrimination by considering different kinds of interaction, i.e. different jump operators, and different monitoring strategies corresponding to continuous homodyne and photo-detection. Our strategy can be in principle implemented in a circuit QED setup and paves the way to further developments of quantum probing via continuous monitoring.

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arXiv2022

Ghost imaging as loss estimation: Quantum versus classical schemes

Frequency correlations are a versatile and powerful tool which can be exploited to perform spectral analysis of objects whose direct measurement might be unfeasible. This is achieved through a so-called ghost spectrometer, that can be implemented with quantum and classical resources alike. While there are some known advantages associated to either choice, an analysis of their metrological capabilities has not yet been performed. Here we report on the metrological comparison between a quantum and a classical ghost spectrometer. We perform the estimation of the transmittivity of a bandpass filter using frequency-entangled photon pairs. Our results show that a quantum advantage is achievable, depending on the values of the transmittivity and on the number of frequency modes analyzed.

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arXiv2021

On the properties of the asymptotic incompatibility measure in multiparameter quantum estimation

We address the use of asymptotic incompatibility (AI) to assess the quantumness of a multiparameter quantum statistical model. AI is a recently introduced measure which quantifies the difference between the Holevo and the SLD scalar bounds, and can be evaluated using only the symmetric logarithmic derivative (SLD) operators of the model. At first, we evaluate analytically the AI of the most general quantum statistical models involving two-level (qubit) and single-mode Gaussian continuous-variable quantum systems, and prove that AI is a simple monotonous function of the state purity. Then, we numerically investigate the same problem for qudits ($d$-dimensional quantum systems, with $2 < d \leq 4$), showing that, while in general AI is not in general a function of purity, we have enough numerical evidence to conclude that the maximum amount of AI is attainable only for quantum statistical models characterized by a purity larger than $μ_{\sf min} = 1/(d-1)$. In addition, by parametrizing qudit states as thermal (Gibbs) states, numerical results suggest that, once the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is fixed, the AI measure is in one-to-one correspondence with the fictitious temperature parameter $β$ characterizing the family of density operators. Finally, by studying in detail the definition and properties of the AI measure we find that: i) given a quantum statistical model, one can readily identify the maximum number of asymptotically compatibile parameters; ii) the AI of a quantum statistical model bounds from above the AI of any sub-model that can be defined by fixing one or more of the original unknown parameters (or functions thereof), leading to possibly useful bounds on the AI of models involving noisy quantum dynamics.

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arXiv2021

Unconditional mechanical squeezing via back-action evading measurements and non-optimal feedback control

Backaction-evading (BAE) measurements of a mechanical resonator, by continuously monitoring a single quadrature of motion, can achieve precision below the zero-point uncertainty. When this happens, the measurement leaves the resonator in a quantum squeezed state. The squeezed state so generated is however conditional on the measurement outcomes, while for most applications it is desirable to have a deterministic, i.e., unconditional, squeezed state with the desired properties. In this work we apply feedback control to achieve deterministic manipulation of mechanical squeezing in an optomechanical system subject to a continuous BAE measurement. We study in details two strategies, direct (Markovian) and state-based (Bayesian) feedback. We show that both are capable to achieve optimal performances, i.e., a vanishing noise added by the feedback loop. Moreover, even when the feedback is restricted to be a time-varying mechanical force (experimentally friendly scenario) and an imperfect BAE regime is considered, the ensuing non-optimal feedback may still obtain significant amount of squeezing. In particular, we show that Bayesian feedback control is nearly optimal for a wide range of sideband resolution. Our analysis is of direct relevance for ultra-sensitive measurements and quantum state engineering in state-of-the-art optomechanical devices.

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arXiv2020

Squeezing as a resource to counteract phase diffusion in optical phase estimation

We address a phase estimation scheme using Gaussian states in the presence of non-Gaussian phase noise. At variance with previous analysis, we analyze situations in which the noise occurs before encoding phase information. In particular, we study how squeezing may be profitably used before or after phase diffusion. Our results show that squeezing the probe after the noise greatly enhances the sensitivity of the estimation scheme, as witnessed by the increase of the quantum Fisher information. We then consider a realistic setup where homodyne detection is employed at the measurement stage, and address its optimality as well as its performance in the two different scenarios.

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arXiv2020

Noisy quantum metrology enhanced by continuous nondemolition measurement

We show that continuous quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of an atomic ensemble is able to improve the precision of frequency estimation even in the presence of independent dephasing acting on each atom. We numerically simulate the dynamics of an ensemble with up to N = 150 atoms initially prepared in a (classical) spin coherent state, and we show that, thanks to the spin squeezing dynamically generated by the measurement, the information obtainable from the continuous photocurrent scales superclassically with respect to the number of atoms N. We provide evidence that such superclassical scaling holds for different values of dephasing and monitoring efficiency. We moreover calculate the extra information obtainable via a final strong measurement on the conditional states generated during the dynamics and show that the corresponding ultimate limit is nearly achieved via a projective measurement of the spin-squeezed collective spin operator. We also briefly discuss the difference between our protocol and standard estimation schemes, where the state preparation time is neglected.

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arXiv2020

On the quantumness of multiparameter estimation problems for qubit systems

The estimation of more than one parameter in quantum mechanics is a fundamental problem with relevant practical applications. In fact, the ultimate limits in the achievable estimation precision are ultimately linked with the non-commutativity of different observables, a peculiar property of quantum mechanics. We here consider several estimation problems for qubit systems and evaluate the corresponding quantumness R, a measure that has been recently introduced in order to quantify how much incompatible are the parameters to be estimated. In particular, R is an upper bound for the renormalized difference between the (asymptotically achievable) Holevo bound and the SLD Cramér-Rao bound (i.e. the matrix generalization of the single-parameter quantum Cramér-Rao bound). For all the estimation problems considered, we evaluate the quantumness R and, in order to better understand its usefulness in characterizing a multiparameter quantum statistical model, we compare it with the renormalized difference between the Holevo and the SLD-bound. Our results give evidence that R is a useful quantity to characterize multiparameter estimation problems, as for several quantum statistical model it is equal to the difference between the bounds and, in general, their behaviour qualitatively coincide. On the other hand, we also find evidence that for certain quantum statistical models the bound is not in tight, and thus R may overestimate the degree of quantum incompatibility between parameters.

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arXiv2020

A perspective on multiparameter quantum metrology: from theoretical tools to applications in quantum imaging

The interest in a system often resides in the interplay among different parameters governing its evolution. It is thus often required to access many of them at once for a complete description. Assessing how quantum enhancement in such multiparameter estimation can be achieved depends on understanding the many subtleties that come into play: establishing solid foundations is key to delivering future technology for this task. In this article we discuss the state of the art of quantum multiparameter estimation, with a particular emphasis on its theoretical tools, on application to imaging problems, and on the possible avenues towards the next developments.

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arXiv2020

Mechanical oscillator thermometry in the nonlinear optomechanical regime

Optomechanical systems are promising platforms for controlled light-matter interactions. They are capable of providing several fundamental and practical novel features when the mechanical oscillator is cooled down to nearly reach its ground state. In this framework, measuring the effective temperature of the oscillator is perhaps the most relevant step in the characterization of those systems. In conventional schemes, the cavity is driven strongly, and the overall system is well-described by a linear (Gaussian preserving) Hamiltonian. Here, we depart from this regime by considering an undriven optomechanical system via non-Gaussian radiation-pressure interaction. To measure the temperature of the mechanical oscillator, initially in a thermal state, we use light as a probe to coherently interact with it and create an entangled state. We show that the optical probe gets a nonlinear phase, resulting from the non-Gaussian interaction, and undergoes an incoherent phase diffusion process. To efficiently infer the temperature from the entangled light-matter state, we propose using a nonlinear Kerr medium before a homodyne detector. Remarkably, placing the Kerr medium enhances the precision to nearly saturate the ultimate quantum bound given by the quantum Fisher information. Furthermore, it also simplifies the thermometry procedure as it makes the choice of the homodyne local phase independent of the temperature, which avoids the need for adaptive sensing protocols.

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arXiv2020

Non-equilibrium readiness and accuracy of Gaussian Quantum Thermometers

The dimensionality of a thermometer is key in the design of quantum thermometry schemes. In general, the phenomenology that is typical of finite-dimensional quantum thermometry does not apply to infinite dimensional ones. We analyse the dynamical and metrological features of non-equilibrium Gaussian Quantum Thermometers: on one hand, we highlight how quantum entanglement can enhance the readiness of composite Gaussian thermometers; on the other hand, we show that non-equilibrium conditions do not guarantee the best sensitivities in temperature estimation, thus suggesting the reassessment of the working principles of quantum thermometry.

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arXiv2020

Diagnosing Imperfections in Quantum Sensors via Generalized Cramér-Rao Bounds

Quantum metrology derives its capabilities from the careful employ of quantum resources for carrying out measurements. This advantage, however, relies on refined data postprocessing, assessed based on the variance of the estimated parameter. When Bayesian techniques are adopted, more elements become available for assessing the quality of the estimation. Here we adopt generalized classical Cramér-Rao bounds for looking in detail into a phase-estimation experiment performed with quantum light. In particular, we show that the third-order absolute moment can give a superior capability in revealing biases in the estimation, compared to standard approaches. Our studies point to the identification of an alternative strategy that brings a possible advantage in monitoring the correct operation of high-precision sensors.

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arXiv2020

Quantum frequency estimation with conditional states of continuously monitored independent dephasing channels

We discuss the problem of estimating a frequency via N-qubit probes undergoing independent dephasing channels that can be continuously monitored via homodyne or photo-detection. We derive the corresponding analytical solutions for the conditional states, for generic initial states and for arbitrary efficiency of the continuous monitoring. For the detection strategies considered, we show that: i) in the case of perfect continuous detection, the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of the conditional states is equal to the one obtained in the noiseless dynamics; ii) for smaller detection efficiencies, the QFI of the conditional state is equal to the QFI of a state undergoing the (unconditional) dephasing dynamics, but with an effectively reduced noise parameter.

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arXiv2019

Assessing data postprocessing for quantum estimation

Quantum sensors are among the most promising quantum technologies, allowing to attain the ultimate precision limit for parameter estimation. In order to achieve this, it is required to fully control and optimize what constitutes the hardware part of the sensors, i.e. the preparation of the probe states and the correct choice of the measurements to be performed. However careful considerations must be drawn also for the software components: a strategy must be employed to find a so-called optimal estimator. Here we review the most common approaches used to find the optimal estimator both with unlimited and limited resources. Furthermore, we present an attempt at a more complete characterization of the estimator by means of higher-order moments of the probability distribution, showing that most information is already conveyed by the standard bounds.

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