Optimal phase sensitivity of an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Abstract: In this paper we address the problem of optimizing an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer, for a given pure input state and considering a specific detection scheme. While the optimum transmission coefficient of the first beam splitter can be uniquely determined via the quantum Fisher information only [Phys. Rev. A 105, 012604 (2022)], the second beam splitter transmission coefficient is detection-scheme dependent, too. We systematically give analytic solutions for the optimum transmission coefficient of the second beam splitter for three types of widely used detection schemes. We provide detailed examples including both Gaussian and non-Gaussian input states, showing when an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer can outperform its balanced counterpart in terms of phase sensitivity.