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Negative Quasiprobabilities Enhance Phase Estimation in Quantum-Optics Experiment

Noah Lupu-Gladstein, Y. Batuhan Yilmaz, David R. M. Arvidsson-Shukur, Aharon Brodutch, Arthur O. T. Pang, Aephraim M. Steinberg, and Nicole Yunger Halpern
Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 220504 – Published 2 June 2022
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Abstract

Operator noncommutation, a hallmark of quantum theory, limits measurement precision, according to uncertainty principles. Wielded correctly, though, noncommutation can boost precision. A recent foundational result relates a metrological advantage with negative quasiprobabilities—quantum extensions of probabilities—engendered by noncommuting operators. We crystallize the relationship in an equation that we prove theoretically and observe experimentally. Our proof-of-principle optical experiment features a filtering technique that we term partially postselected amplification (PPA). Using PPA, we measure a wave plate’s birefringent phase. PPA amplifies, by over two orders of magnitude, the information obtained about the phase per detected photon. In principle, PPA can boost the information obtained from the average filtered photon by an arbitrarily large factor. The filter’s amplification of systematic errors, we find, bounds the theoretically unlimited advantage in practice. PPA can facilitate any phase measurement and mitigates challenges that scale with trial number, such as proportional noise and detector saturation. By quantifying PPA’s metrological advantage with quasiprobabilities, we reveal deep connections between quantum foundations and precision measurement.

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  • Received 20 November 2021
  • Accepted 21 March 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.220504

© 2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Quantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Noah Lupu-Gladstein1,*, Y. Batuhan Yilmaz1,†, David R. M. Arvidsson-Shukur2,‡, Aharon Brodutch1,§, Arthur O. T. Pang1,∥, Aephraim M. Steinberg1,¶, and Nicole Yunger Halpern3,4,5,6

  • 1CQIQC and Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada
  • 2Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom
  • 3Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, NIST and University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 4Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 5ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  • 6Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

  • *nlupugla@physics.utoronto.ca
  • ybylmaz@physics.utoronto.ca
  • drma2@cam.ac.uk
  • §brodutch@physics.utoronto.ca
  • arthur.pang@mail.utoronto.ca
  • steinberg@physics.utoronto.ca

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Issue

Vol. 128, Iss. 22 — 3 June 2022

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