Probing the Limits of Dispersive Quantum Thermometry with a Nonlinear Mach-Zehnder-Based Quantum Simulator

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Akamatsu, Daniel Y., de Moura, Lucas Ferreira R., Damas, Gabriella G., Neto, Gentil D. de Moraes, Montenegro, Victor, de Almeida, Norton G.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Akamatsu, Daniel Y.
de Moura, Lucas Ferreira R.
Damas, Gabriella G.
Neto, Gentil D. de Moraes
Montenegro, Victor
de Almeida, Norton G.
author_facet Akamatsu, Daniel Y.
de Moura, Lucas Ferreira R.
Damas, Gabriella G.
Neto, Gentil D. de Moraes
Montenegro, Victor
de Almeida, Norton G.
contents Temperature estimation, known as thermometry, is a critical sensing task for physical systems operating in the quantum regime. Indeed, thermal fluctuations can significantly degrade quantum coherence. Therefore, accurately determining the system's operating temperature is a crucial first step toward distinguishing thermal noise from other sources of decoherence. In this work, we estimate the unknown temperature of a collection of identical and independent two-level atoms dispersively probed by a single-mode quantized electromagnetic field. In contrast to previous works, we present an analytical sensing analysis demonstrating that the joint atom-field evolution -- without any assumptions or approximations -- can achieve, at best, the standard quantum limit of precision concerning the number of field excitations. To investigate our analysis further, we propose and implement a quantum thermometer based on a nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which we realize through quantum digital simulation. Our simulation is highly flexible regarding atomic state preparation, allowing the initialization of atomic ensembles with positive and effective negative temperatures. This makes our platform a promising and versatile testbed for benchmarking thermometric capabilities in current quantum simulators.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_04246
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing the Limits of Dispersive Quantum Thermometry with a Nonlinear Mach-Zehnder-Based Quantum Simulator
Akamatsu, Daniel Y.
de Moura, Lucas Ferreira R.
Damas, Gabriella G.
Neto, Gentil D. de Moraes
Montenegro, Victor
de Almeida, Norton G.
Quantum Physics
Temperature estimation, known as thermometry, is a critical sensing task for physical systems operating in the quantum regime. Indeed, thermal fluctuations can significantly degrade quantum coherence. Therefore, accurately determining the system's operating temperature is a crucial first step toward distinguishing thermal noise from other sources of decoherence. In this work, we estimate the unknown temperature of a collection of identical and independent two-level atoms dispersively probed by a single-mode quantized electromagnetic field. In contrast to previous works, we present an analytical sensing analysis demonstrating that the joint atom-field evolution -- without any assumptions or approximations -- can achieve, at best, the standard quantum limit of precision concerning the number of field excitations. To investigate our analysis further, we propose and implement a quantum thermometer based on a nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which we realize through quantum digital simulation. Our simulation is highly flexible regarding atomic state preparation, allowing the initialization of atomic ensembles with positive and effective negative temperatures. This makes our platform a promising and versatile testbed for benchmarking thermometric capabilities in current quantum simulators.
title Probing the Limits of Dispersive Quantum Thermometry with a Nonlinear Mach-Zehnder-Based Quantum Simulator
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.04246