arXiv subjects

Zhucheng Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Zhucheng Zhang.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Quantum-enhanced weak absorption estimation with correlated photons

Conventional absorption spectroscopy relies on coherent laser sources, and in turn suffers from the inherent limitation of shot noise, especially in estimating weak absorption. Here we propose a measurement strategy with correlated photons to determine the weak absorption by distinguishing the output with and without photons, dubbed as the on-off measurement. We demonstrate that absorption spectroscopy that incorporates quantum correlations is capable of estimating weak absorption down to a single-photon level, even in noisy environments, achieving a precision comparable to that obtained through 1000 photons in conventional absorption spectroscopy. Our strategy provides a new method to probe fragile systems with weak absorption, avoiding the occurrence of light-induced damage.

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arXiv2025

Measurement Uncertainty in Infrared Spectroscopy with Entangled Photon Pairs

Spectroscopy with entanglement has shown great potential to break limitations of traditional spectroscopic measurements, yet the role of entanglement in spectroscopic multi-parameter joint measurement, particularly in the infrared optical range, remains elusive. Here, we find an uncertain relation that constrains the precision of infrared spectroscopic multi-parameter measurements using entangled photon pairs. Under such a relation, we demonstrate a trade-off between the measurement precisions of the refractive index and absorption coefficient of the medium in the infrared range, and also illustrate how to balance their respective estimation errors. Our work shall provide guidance towards the future experimental designs and applications in entanglement-assisted spectroscopy.

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arXiv2024

Relations between quantum metrology and criticality in general su(1, 1) systems

There is a prevalent effort to achieve quantum-enhanced metrology using criticality. However, the extent to which estimation precision is enhanced through criticality still needs further exploration under the constraint of finite time resources. We clarify relations between quantum metrology and criticality through a unitary parametrization process with a Hamiltonian governed by su(1, 1) Lie algebra. We demonstrate that the determination of the generator in the parameterization can be treated as an extended brachistochrone problem. Furthermore, the dynamic quantum Fisher information about the parameter exhibits a power-law dependence on the evolution time as the system approaches its critical point. By investigating the dynamic sensing proposals of three quantum critical systems, we show that the asymptotic behavior of sensitivity is consistent with our predictions. Our theory provides a deep understanding on the interplay of quantum metrology and criticality, providing insights into the underlying connections that involve both quantum phenomena and classical problems.

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arXiv2022

Instantaneous indirect measurement principle in quantum mechanics

In quantum systems, the measurement of operators and the measurement of the quantum states of the system are very challenging tasks. In this Letter, we propose a method to obtain the average value of one operator in a certain state by measuring the instantaneous change of the average value of another operator with the assistance of a known reference state. We refer to this measurement method as the instantaneous indirect measurement method. By studying the application of this method to some typical models, we find that this measurement can be applied to the measurement of an arbitrary state of a quantum system. Furthermore, for the system to be measured, we find that such measurement neither significantly affects the wave function of the system nor causes wave function collapse of the system. Also, our study shows that when two independent systems are coupled, the information mapping between them is done instantaneously. Finally, we discuss applying this measurement method to the measurement of quantum Fisher information, which quantizes the limited accuracy of estimating a parameter from a quantum state.

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arXiv2022

Quantum phase transition in XXZ central spin model

We investigate the quantum phase transition (QPT) in the XXZ central spin model, which can be described as a spin-1/2 particle coupled to N bath spins. In general, the QPT is supposed to occur only in the thermodynamical limit. In contrast, we present that the central spin model exhibits a normal-to-superradiant phase transition in the limit where the ratio of the transition frequency of the central spin to that of the bath spins and the number of the bath spins tend to infinity. We give the low-energy effective Hamiltonian analytically in the normal phase and the superradiant phase, and we find that the longitudinal interaction can significantly influence the excitation number and the coherence of the ground state. These two quantities are remarkably enhanced for the negative longitudinal interaction while suppressed for the positive longitudinal interaction. We also use the quantum Fisher information (QFI) to characterize the QPT and illustrate a measurement scheme that can be applied in practice. This work builds a novel connection between the qubit-spin systems and the qubit-field systems, which provides a possibility for the realization of criticality-enhanced quantum sensing in central spin systems.

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arXiv2022

All-optical generation of deterministic squeezed Schrödinger-cat states

Quantum states are important resources and their preparations are essential prerequisites to all quantum technologies. However, they are extremely fragile due to the inevitable dissipations. Here, an all-optical generation of a deterministic squeezed Schr$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$dinger-cat state based on dissipation is proposed. Our system is based on the Fredkin-type interaction between three optical modes, one of which is subject to coherent two-photon driving and the rest are coherent driving. We show that an effective degenerate three-wave mixing process can be engineered in our system, which can cause the simultaneous loss of two photons, resulting in the generation of a deterministic squeezed Schr$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$dinger-cat state. More importantly, by controlling the driving fields in our system, the two-photon loss can be adjustable, which can accelerate the generation of squeezed Schr$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$dinger-cat states. Besides, we exploit the squeezed Schr$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$dinger-cat states to estimate the phase in the optical interferometer, and show that the quantum Fisher information about the phase can reach the Heisenberg limit in the limit of a large photon number. Meanwhile, it can have an order of magnitude factor improvement over the Heisenberg limit in the low-photon-number regime, which is very valuable for fragile systems that cannot withstand large photon fluxes. This work proposes an all-optical scheme to deterministically prepare the squeezed Schr$\ddot{\mathrm{o}}$dinger-cat state with high speed and can also be generalized to other physical platforms.

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arXiv2021

Single-photon-triggered spin squeezing with decoherence reduction in optomechanics via phase matching

Quantum spin squeezing is an important resource for quantum information processing, but its squeezing degree is not easy to preserve in an open system with decoherence. Here, we propose a scheme to implement single-photon-triggered spin squeezing with decoherence reduction in an open system. In our system, a Dicke model (DM) is introduced into the quadratic optomechanics, which can be equivalent to an effective DM manipulated by the photon number. Besides, the phonon mode of the optomechanical system is coupled to a squeezed vacuum reservoir with a phase matching, resulting in that the thermal noise caused by the environment can be suppressed completely. We show that squeezing of the phonon mode triggered by a single photon can be transferred to the spin ensemble totally, and pairwise entanglement of the spin ensemble can be realized if and only if there is spin squeezing. Importantly, when considering the impact of the environment, our system can obtain a better squeezing degree than the optimal squeezing that can be achieved in the traditional DM. Meanwhile, the spin squeezing generated in our system is immune to the thermal noise. This work offers an effective way to generate spin squeezing with a single photon and to reduce decoherence in an open system, which will have promising applications in quantum information processing.

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arXiv2021

Extreme expected values and their applications in quantum information processing

We consider the probability distribution when the monotonic function $F(X)$ of the independent variable $X$ takes the maximum or minimum expected value under the two constraints of a certain probability and a certain expected value of the independent variable $X$. We proposed an equal probability and equal expected value splitting method. With this method, we proved four inequalities, and two of them can be reduced to Jensen's inequalities. Subsequently, we find that after dividing the non-monotone function $H(X)$ into multiple monotone intervals, the problem of solving the maximum and minimum expected values of $H(X)$ can be transformed into the problem of solving the extreme value of a multiple-variable function. Finally, we apply the proved theory to solve three problems in quantum information processing. When studying the quantum parameter estimation in Mach-Zehnder interferometer, for an equal total input photon number, we find an optimal path-symmetric input state that makes the quantum Fisher information take the maximum value, and we prove that the NOON state is the path-symmetric state that makes the quantum Fisher information takes the minimum value. When studying the quantum parameter estimation in Landau-Zener-Jaynes-Cummings model, we find the optimal initial state of the cavity field that makes the system obtain the maximum quantum Fisher information. Finally, for an equal initial average photon number, we find the optimal initial state of the cavity field that makes the Tavis-Cummings quantum battery have the maximum stored energy and the maximum average charging power.

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arXiv2020

Measuring orbital angular momentum of vortex beams in optomechanics

Measuring the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of vortex beams, including the magnitude and the sign, has great application prospects due to its theoretically unbounded and orthogonal modes. Here, the sign-distinguishable OAM measurement in optomechanics is proposed, which is achieved by monitoring the shift of the transmission spectrum of the probe field in a double Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) rotational-cavity system. Compared with the traditional single LG rotational cavity, an asymmetric optomechanically induced transparency window can occur in our system. Meanwhile, the position of the resonance valley has a strong correlation with the magnitude and sign of OAM. This originally comes from the fact that the effective detuning of the cavity mode from the driving field can vary with the magnitude and sign of OAM, which causes the spectral shift to be directional for different signs of OAM. Our scheme solves the shortcoming of the inability to distinguish the sign of OAM in optomechanics, and works well for high-order vortex beams with topological charge value $\pm 45$, which is a significant improvement for measuring OAM based on the cavity optomechanical system.

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arXiv2020

$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking enhanced cavity optomechanical magnetometry

$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking enhanced cavity optomechanical magnetometer is proposed, which is achieved by monitoring the change of intensity of a nonlinear four-wave mixing (FWM) process in a gain-cavity-assisted cavity optomechanical system (COMS). Compared with the traditional single loss COMS, the FWM intensity can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude when the gain-cavity-assisted COMS operates at the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking phase. Meanwhile, the sensitivity of magnetic field sensing can be increased from $10^{-9}$T to $10^{-11}$T. This originally comes from the fact that the effective detuning and decay of loss-cavity can be effectively modified in the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking phase. Our work shows that an ultrahigh-sensitivity magnetometer can be achieved in the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking COMS, which will have wide applications in the field of quantum sensing.

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arXiv2019

Photon-assisted entanglement and squeezing generation and decoherence suppression via a quadratic optomechanical coupling

Entanglement and quantum squeezing have wide applications in quantum technologies due to their non-classical characteristics. Here we study entanglement and quantum squeezing in an open spin-optomechanical system, in which a Rabi model (a spin coupled to the mechanical oscillator) is coupled to an ancillary cavity field via a quadratic optomechanical coupling. We find that their performances can be significantly modulated via the photon of the ancillary cavity, which comes from photon-dependent spin-oscillator coupling and detuning. Specifically, a fully switchable spin-oscillator entanglement can be achieved, meanwhile a strong mechanical squeezing is also realized. Moreover, we study the environment-induced decoherence and dissipation, and find that they can be mitigated by increasing the number of photons. This work provides an effective way to manipulate entanglement and quantum squeezing and to suppress decoherence in the cavity quantum electrodynamics with a quadratic optomechanics.

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