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Main Authors: Oglialoro, Cristofero, Machado, Gerard J., Farsch, Felix, Urrego, Daniel F., Padilla, Alejandra A., Patel, Raj B., Walmsley, Ian A., Gräfe, Markus, Torres, Juan P., Giese, Enno
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.04139
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author Oglialoro, Cristofero
Machado, Gerard J.
Farsch, Felix
Urrego, Daniel F.
Padilla, Alejandra A.
Patel, Raj B.
Walmsley, Ian A.
Gräfe, Markus
Torres, Juan P.
Giese, Enno
author_facet Oglialoro, Cristofero
Machado, Gerard J.
Farsch, Felix
Urrego, Daniel F.
Padilla, Alejandra A.
Patel, Raj B.
Walmsley, Ian A.
Gräfe, Markus
Torres, Juan P.
Giese, Enno
contents Over the past decade, several schemes for imaging and sensing based on nonlinear interferometers have been proposed and demonstrated experimentally. These interferometers exhibit two main advantages. First, they enable probing a sample at a chosen wavelength while detecting light at a different wavelength with high efficiency (bicolor quantum imaging and sensing with undetected light). Second, they can show quantum-enhanced sensitivities below the shot-noise limit, potentially reaching Heisenberg-limited precision in parameter estimation. Here, we compare three quantum-imaging configurations using only easily accessible intensity-based measurements for phase estimation: a Yurke-type SU(1,1) interferometer, a Mandel-type induced-coherence interferometer, and a hybrid scheme that continuously interpolates between them. While an ideal Yurke interferometer can exhibit Heisenberg scaling, this advantage is known to be fragile under realistic detection constraints and in the presence of loss. We demonstrate that differential intensity detection in the Mandel interferometer provides the highest and most robust phase sensitivity among the considered schemes, reaching but not surpassing the shot-noise limit, even in the presence of loss. Intensity measurements in a Yurke-type configuration can achieve genuine sub-shot-noise sensitivity under balanced losses and moderate gain; however, their performance degrades in realistic high-gain regimes. Consequently, in this regime, the Mandel configuration with differential detection outperforms the Yurke-type setup and constitutes the most robust approach for phase estimation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_04139
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Below-shot-noise capacity in phase estimation using nonlinear interferometers
Oglialoro, Cristofero
Machado, Gerard J.
Farsch, Felix
Urrego, Daniel F.
Padilla, Alejandra A.
Patel, Raj B.
Walmsley, Ian A.
Gräfe, Markus
Torres, Juan P.
Giese, Enno
Quantum Physics
Optics
Over the past decade, several schemes for imaging and sensing based on nonlinear interferometers have been proposed and demonstrated experimentally. These interferometers exhibit two main advantages. First, they enable probing a sample at a chosen wavelength while detecting light at a different wavelength with high efficiency (bicolor quantum imaging and sensing with undetected light). Second, they can show quantum-enhanced sensitivities below the shot-noise limit, potentially reaching Heisenberg-limited precision in parameter estimation. Here, we compare three quantum-imaging configurations using only easily accessible intensity-based measurements for phase estimation: a Yurke-type SU(1,1) interferometer, a Mandel-type induced-coherence interferometer, and a hybrid scheme that continuously interpolates between them. While an ideal Yurke interferometer can exhibit Heisenberg scaling, this advantage is known to be fragile under realistic detection constraints and in the presence of loss. We demonstrate that differential intensity detection in the Mandel interferometer provides the highest and most robust phase sensitivity among the considered schemes, reaching but not surpassing the shot-noise limit, even in the presence of loss. Intensity measurements in a Yurke-type configuration can achieve genuine sub-shot-noise sensitivity under balanced losses and moderate gain; however, their performance degrades in realistic high-gain regimes. Consequently, in this regime, the Mandel configuration with differential detection outperforms the Yurke-type setup and constitutes the most robust approach for phase estimation.
title Below-shot-noise capacity in phase estimation using nonlinear interferometers
topic Quantum Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.04139