Lossy SU(1,1) interferometers in the single-photon-pair regime

Abstract: The success of quantum technologies is intimately connected to the possibility of using them in real-world applications. To this aim, we study the sensing capabilities of quantum SU(1,1) interferometers in the single-photon-pair regime and in the presence of losses, a situation highly relevant to practical realistic measurements of extremely photosensitive materials. We show that coincidence measurement can be exploited to partially mitigate the effect of losses inside the interferometer. Finally, we find that quantum SU(1,1) interferometers are capable of outperforming classical SU(2) systems when analogous real-world conditions are considered.