arXiv subjects

Xiao-Ming Lu

Publications and source records attributed to Xiao-Ming Lu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantifying Uhlmann curvature from Yang-Mills action and its implications in quantum multiparameter estimation

The geometry of quantum states has profound implications in quantum multiparameter estimation. While the Riemannian structure of quantum state space is well understood, the full understanding of the curvature structure of mixed quantum states is still an open problem. Inspired by the Yang-Mills action in non-Abelian gauge theory, we propose a scalar quantifying the Uhlmann curvature and establish its connection to the measurement incompatibility in quantum multiparameter estimation problems. We show that this curvature measure is gauge invariant, reparametrization invariant, and vanishes if and only if the Uhlmann curvature vanishes. We also explicitly calculate the Uhlmann curvature for the joint estimation of phase and phase diffusion as an example.

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arXiv2026

Noise-robust discrimination of incoherent point sources with spatial-mode demultiplexing

We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate that a reduced spatial-mode demultiplexing (SPADE) measurement using only the two lowest-order Hermite-Gaussian modes exhibits remarkable robustness against background noise in discriminating between a single source and two incoherent point sources. We establish a theoretical framework incorporating uniform background noise and derive an analytical Chernoff exponent expression, showing that SPADE consistently outperforms direct imaging (DI) across all source separations. Experimental results confirm that SPADE-based hypothesis testing approaches the quantum limit even when the background-to-signal photon ratio per pixel is 0.11. This advantage stems from SPADE's ability to concentrate source information into minimal detection modes, reducing the cumulative background noise impact. Our findings provide a practical detection scheme for applications where background noise is inevitable, such as astronomical observations and quantum sensing.

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arXiv2026

Ultimate tradeoff relation of quantum precision limits in multiparameter linear measurement

Linear measurements are widely applied in sensing classical signals, e.g., gravitational wave (GW), and are developing toward joint measurement of multiple parameters. In this work, focusing on multiparameter linear measurements of classical monochromatic signals, we establish an inherent tradeoff relation that tightly constrains the quantum limits on estimation precision. The tradeoff relation is fundamental since it is rooted in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and fully characterizes the dependence between the attainable precision limits on the estimated parameters. Eventually, we identify a necessary condition under which an optimal measurement protocol saturates the tradeoff relation, and show that the measurement phase can be regulated to implement flexible allocation of precision weights. Our finding can offer valuable guidance for detuned GW sensors in ultra-sensitive searches for post-merger remnants.

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arXiv2026

Adaptive Real-Time Magnetic Field Tracking beyond Prior Waveform Constraints

The extraction of weak signals plays a crucial role in quantum precision measurement, where the estimation results are often limited by low signal-to-noise ratios. Here, we demonstrate a parameter-estimation framework based on the adaptive extended Kalman filter for dynamic magnetic-field estimation in quantum systems using spin-noise measurements -- a challenging regime characterized by weak signals. By modeling the magnetic field as an unknown parameter, the proposed approach alleviates model dependence in state estimation. Furthermore, by introducing an adaptive algorithm with real-time noise estimation, our method overcomes the measurement noise intensity constraints of conventional extended Kalman filtering and enhances its practical applicability. Numerical simulations covering three representative magnetic-field dynamics validate the capability of the proposed framework, while experimental results demonstrate successful tracking of a seismo-magnetic-like signal beyond the intrinsic sensitivity of conventional spin-noise spectroscopy.

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arXiv2025

Measuring the Oscillation Frequency Beyond the Diffraction Limit

High-resolution array detectors are widely used in single-particle tracking, but their performance is limited by excess noise from background light and dark current. As pixel resolution increases, the diminished signal per pixel exacerbates susceptibility to noise, degrading tracking accuracy. To overcome this limitation, we use spatial-mode demultiplexing (SPADE) as a noise-robust approach for estimating the motion characteristics of an optical point-like source. We show that SPADE efficiently concentrate the information into a few key spatial modes, drastically reducing the number of detectors while maintaining high estimation precision. Furthermore, we enhance the robustness of the estimation against excess noise by elaborately designing the modes to be decomposed. We demonstrate, both theoretically and experimentally, that a SPADE with two specific modes outperforms direct imaging in estimating the micro-oscillation frequency of an optical point source in the presence of excess noise.

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arXiv2025

Mixed-State Berry Curvature in quantum multiparameter estimations

For pure states, the quantum Berry curvature was well studied. However, the quantum curvature for mixed states has received less attention. From the concept of symmetric logarithmic derivative, we introduce a mixed-state quantum curvature and find that it plays a key role in the field of multi-parameter precision estimations. Through spectral decomposition, we derive the mixed-state Berry curvature for both the full-rank and non-full-rank density matrices. As an example, we obtain the exact expression of the Berry curvature for an arbitrary qubit state.

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arXiv2025

Quantum Parameter Estimation Uncertainty Relation

Quantum multiparameter estimation focuses on the simultaneous inference of multiple parameters in quantum systems through measurement and data processing. Its complexity stems from two key factors: measurement incompatibility and parameter correlation. By strategically manipulating the multidimensional parameter space, we derive an estimation uncertainty relation that quantifies how these factors jointly limit estimation precision in the two-parameter case. This uncertainty relation is tight for pure states and thus completely describes the quantum limit of two-parameter estimation precision in a simple inequality. To intuitively illustrate the impact of the uncertainty relation, we develop an error-ellipse method and demonstrate its utility in phase-space displacement estimation. Our results reveal that a geometric perspective of the parameter space offers a powerful approach for addressing multiparameter estimation challenges.

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arXiv2025

Revisit on quantum parameter estimation approach for Mach-Zehnder interferometry

The Mach-Zehnder interferometer is a fundamental tool for measuring phase shifts between two light paths, serving as a crucial prototype for achieving high-precision measurements in various scientific and technological applications. In this study, we analyze different models for estimating relative phase shift in a general two-arm Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We demonstrated that single-parameter estimation models can be reduced from the two-parameter estimation model by imposing appropriate constraints on the parameter space. To make quantum Fisher information of the single-parameter estimation models meaningful, the corresponding constraints must be guaranteed in the experiment implementation. Furthermore, we apply the quantum Fisher information approach to analyze the Mach-Zehnder interferometer with the an input state composed of a displaced squeezed vacuum state and a coherent state, providing insights into the precision limits of such configurations.

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arXiv2024

Phase-coding quantum-key-distribution system based on Sagnac-Mach-Zehnder interferometers

Stability and robustness are important criteria to evaluate the performance of a quantum-key-distribution (QKD) system in real-life applications. However, the inherent birefringence effect of the fiber channel and disturbance caused by the variation of the deployment environment of the QKD system tremendously decreases its performance. To eliminate this adverse impact, we propose a polarization-insensitive phase-coding QKD system based on Sagnac-Mach-Zehnder interferometers. Verified by theoretical analysis and experimental tests, this QKD system is robust against channel polarization disturbance. The robustness and long-term stability of the QKD system is confirmed with a 10-day continuous operation over a 12.6-dB channel, which consists of a 50-km fiber spool and a polarization scrambler (2 rad/s). As a result, an average quantum bit error rate of 0.958% and a sustained secure key rate of 3.68 kbps are obtained. Moreover, the secure key rate of the QKD system for a typical channel loss of 10 dB reaches 6.89 kbps, and the achievable maximum transmission distance exceeds 125 km.

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arXiv2023

All-optical correlated noisy channel and its application in recovering quantum coherence

Attenuation and amplification are the most common processes for optical communications. Amplification can be used to compensate the attenuation of the complex amplitude of an optical field, but is unable to recover the coherence lost, provided that the attenuation channel and the amplification channel are independent. In this work, we show that the quantum coherence of an optical filed can be regained if the attenuation channel and the amplification channel share correlated noise. We propose an all-optical correlated noisy channel relying on four-wave mixing process and demonstrate its capability of recovering quantum coherence within continuous-variable systems. We quantitatively investigate the coherence recovery phenomena for coherent states and two-mode squeezed states. Moreover, we analyze the effect of other photon losses that are independent with the recovery channel on the performance of recovering coherence. Different from correlated noisy channels previously proposed based on electro-optic conversions, the correlated noisy channel in our protocol is all-optical and thus owns larger operational bandwidths.

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arXiv2023

Joint optimal measurement for locating two incoherent optical point sources near the Rayleigh distance

The simultaneous optimization of the centroid estimation and the separation estimation of two incoherent optical point sources is restricted by a tradeoff relation through an incompatibility coefficient. At the Rayleigh distance the incompatibility coefficient vanishes and thus the tradeoff relation no longer restricts the simultaneous optimization of measurement for a joint estimation. We construct such a joint optimal measurement by an elaborated analysis on the operator algebra of the symmetric logarithmic derivative. Our work not only confirms the existence of a joint optimal measurement for this specific imaging model, but also gives a promising method to characterize the condition on measurement compatibility for general multiparameter estimation problems.

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arXiv2022

Quantum Cramér-Rao bound for quantum statistical models with parameter-dependent rank

Recently, a widely-used computation expression for quantum Fisher information was shown to be discontinuous at the parameter points where the rank of the parametric density operator changes. The quantum Cramér-Rao bound can be violated on such singular parameter points if one uses this computation expression for quantum Fisher information. We point out that the discontinuity of the computation expression of quantum Fisher information is accompanied with the unboundedness of the symmetric logarithmic derivation operators, based on which the quantum Fisher information is formally defined and the quantum Cramér-Rao bound is originally proved. We argue that the limiting version of quantum Cramér-Rao bound still holds when the parametric density operator changes its rank by closing the potential loophole of involving an unbounded SLD operator in the proof of the bound. Moreover, we analyze a typical example of the quantum statistical models with parameter-dependent rank.

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arXiv2022

Direct measurement of quantum Fisher information

In the adiabatic perturbation theory, Berry curvature is related to the generalized force, and the quantum metric tensor is linked with energy fluctuation. While the former is tested with numerous numerical results and experimental realizations, the latter is less considered. Quantum Fisher information, key to quantum precision measurement, is four times quantum metric tensor. It is difficult to relate the quantum Fisher information with some physical observable. One interesting candidate is square of the symmetric logarithmic derivative, which is usually tough to obtain both theoretically and experimentally. The adiabatic perturbation theory enlightens us to measure the energy fluctuation to directly extract the quantum Fisher information. In this article, we first adopt an alternative way to derive the link of energy fluctuation to the quantum Fisher information. Then we numerically testify the direct extraction of the quantum Fisher information based on adiabatic perturbation in two-level systems and simulate the experimental realization in nitrogen-vacancy center with experimentally practical parameters. Statistical models such as transverse field Ising model and Heisenberg spin chains are also discussed to compare with the analytical result and show the level crossing respectively. Our discussion will provide a new practical scheme to measure the quantum Fisher information, and will also benefit the quantum precision measurement and the understand of the quantum Fisher information.

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arXiv2022

Performance-tradeoff relation for locating two incoherent optical point sources

The optimal quantum measurements for estimating individual parameters might be incompatible with each other so that they cannot be jointly performed. The tradeoff between the estimation precision for different parameters can be characterized by information regret -- the difference between the Fisher information and its quantum limit. We show that the information-regret-tradeoff relation can give us not only an intuitive picture of the potential in improving the joint scheme of estimating the centroid and the separation, but also some clues to the optimal measurements for the sequential scheme. In particular, we show that, for two incoherent point sources with a very small separation, the optimal measurement for the separation must extract little information about the centroid, and vice versa.

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arXiv2021

Generalization of Rayleigh's Criterion on Parameter Estimation with Incoherent Sources

The basic idea behind Rayleigh's criterion on resolving two incoherent optical point sources is that the overlap between the spatial modes from different sources would reduce the estimation precision for the locations of the sources, dubbed Rayleigh's curse. We generalize the concept of Rayleigh's curse to the abstract problems of quantum parameter estimation with incoherent sources. To manifest the effect of Rayleigh's curse on quantum parameter estimation, we define the curse matrix in terms of quantum Fisher information and introduce the global and local immunity to the curse accordingly. We further derive the expression for the curse matrix and give the necessary and sufficient condition on the immunity to Rayleigh's curse. For estimating the one-dimensional location parameters with a common initial state, we demonstrate that the global immunity to the curse on quantum Fisher information is impossible for more than two sources.

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arXiv2021

Incorporating Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle into Quantum Multiparameter Estimation

The quantum multiparameter estimation is very different from the classical multiparameter estimation due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics. When the optimal measurements for different parameters are incompatible, they cannot be jointly performed. We find a correspondence relationship between the inaccuracy of a measurement for estimating the unknown parameter with the measurement error in the context of measurement uncertainty relations. Taking this correspondence relationship as a bridge, we incorporate Heisenberg's uncertainty principle into quantum multiparameter estimation by giving a tradeoff relation between the measurement inaccuracies for estimating different parameters. For pure quantum states, this tradeoff relation is tight, so it can reveal the true quantum limits on individual estimation errors in such cases. We apply our approach to derive the tradeoff between attainable errors of estimating the real and imaginary parts of a complex signal encoded in coherent states and obtain the joint measurements attaining the tradeoff relation. We also show that our approach can be readily used to derive the tradeoff between the errors of jointly estimating the phase shift and phase diffusion without explicitly parameterizing quantum measurements.

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arXiv2020

Generalized-mean Cramér-Rao Bounds for Multiparameter Quantum Metrology

In multiparameter quantum metrology, the weighted-arithmetic-mean error of estimation is often used as a scalar cost function to be minimized during design optimization. However, other types of mean error can reveal different facets of permissible error combination. By introducing the weighted $f$-mean of estimation error and quantum Fisher information, we derive various quantum Cramér-Rao bounds on mean error in a very general form and also give their refined versions with complex quantum Fisher information matrices. We show that the geometric- and harmonic-mean quantum Cramér-Rao bounds can help to reveal more forbidden region of estimation error for a complex signal in coherent light accompanied by thermal background than just using the ordinary arithmetic-mean version. Moreover, we show that the $f$-mean quantum Fisher information can be considered as information-theoretic quantities to quantify asymmetry and coherence as quantum resources.

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arXiv2019

Quantum Fisher information matrix and multiparameter estimation

Quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) is a core concept in theoretical quantum metrology due to the significant importance of quantum Cramér-Rao bound in quantum parameter estimation. However, studies in recent years have revealed wide connections between QFIM and other aspects of quantum mechanics, including quantum thermodynamics, quantum phase transition, entanglement witness, quantum speed limit and non-Markovianity. These connections indicate that QFIM is more than a concept in quantum metrology, but rather a fundamental quantity in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we summarize the properties and existing calculation techniques of QFIM for various cases, and review the development of QFIM in some aspects of quantum mechanics apart from quantum metrology. On the other hand, as the main application of QFIM, the second part of this paper reviews the quantum multiparameter Cramér-Rao bound, its attainability condition and the associated optimal measurements. Moreover, recent developments in a few typical scenarios of quantum multiparameter estimation and the quantum advantages are also thoroughly discussed in this part.

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