Criticality-Enhanced Quantum Sensing via Continuous Measurement

Abstract: Present protocols of criticality-enhanced sensing with open quantum sensors assume direct measurement of the sensor and omit the radiation quanta emitted to the environment, thereby potentially missing valuable information. Here we propose a protocol for criticality-enhanced sensing via continuous observation of the emitted radiation quanta. Under general assumptions, we establish a scaling theory for the global quantum Fisher information of the joint system and environment state at dissipative critical points. We derive universal scaling laws featuring transient and long-time behavior governed by the underlying critical exponents. Importantly, such scaling laws exceed the standard quantum limit and can in principle saturate the Heisenberg limit. To harness such advantageous scaling, we propose a practical sensing scheme based on continuous detection of the emitted quanta as realized experimentally in various quantum-optical setups. In such a scheme a single interrogation corresponds to a (stochastic) quantum trajectory of the open system evolving under the nonunitary dynamics dependent on the parameter to be sensed and the backaction of the continuous measurement. Remarkably, we demonstrate that the associated precision scaling significantly exceeds that based on direct measurement of the critical steady state, thereby establishing the metrological value of the continuous detection of the emitted quanta at dissipative criticality. We illustrate our protocol via counting the photons emitted by the open Rabi model, a paradigmatic model for the study of dissipative phase transition with finite components. Our protocol is applicable to generic quantum-optical open sensors permitting continuous readout, and may find applications at the frontier of quantum sensing, such as the human-machine interface, magnetic diagnosis of heart disease, and zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance.