Entanglement and extreme planar spin squeezing

Abstract: We introduce an entanglement-depth criterion optimized for planar quantum squeezed (PQS) states. It is connected with the sensitivity of such states for estimating an arbitrary, not necessarily small phase. We compare numerically our criterion with the well-known extreme spin squeezing condition of S{\o}rensen and M{\o}lmer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4431 (2001)] and show that our condition detects a higher depth of entanglement when both planar spin variances are squeezed below the standard quantum limit. We employ our theory to monitor the entanglement dynamics in a PQS state produced via quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements using data from a recent experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 233603 (2017)].