Critical Quantum Metrology with a Finite-Component Quantum Phase Transition

Mar 27, 2020
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.Lett. 124 (2020) 12, 120504
  • Published: Mar 27, 2020

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Abstract: (APS)
Physical systems close to a quantum phase transition exhibit a divergent susceptibility, suggesting that an arbitrarily high precision may be achieved by exploiting quantum critical systems as probes to estimate a physical parameter. However, such an improvement in sensitivity is counterbalanced by the closing of the energy gap, which implies a critical slowing down and an inevitable growth of the protocol duration. Here, we design different metrological protocols that exploit the superradiant phase transition of the quantum Rabi model, a finite-component system composed of a single two-level atom interacting with a single bosonic mode. We show that, in spite of the critical slowing down, critical quantum optical probes can achieve a quantum-enhanced time scaling of the sensitivity in frequency-estimation protocols.
  • Atomic, Molecular & Optical
  • Quantum Information, Science & Technology
  • Quantum information with trapped ions
  • Quantum metrology
  • Quantum optics
  • Quantum phase transitions
  • Quantum sensing
  • Trapped ions