Surpassing thermal-state limit in thermometry via non-completely positive quantum encoding

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sarkar, Anindita, Chaki, Paranjoy, Saha, Debarupa, Sen, Ujjwal
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Sarkar, Anindita
Chaki, Paranjoy
Saha, Debarupa
Sen, Ujjwal
author_facet Sarkar, Anindita
Chaki, Paranjoy
Saha, Debarupa
Sen, Ujjwal
contents Conventional quantum thermometry assumes completely positive (CP) encoding maps, where the probe is initially uncorrelated with the environment. We consider realistic scenarios with initial probe-environment correlations leading to physically realizable non-completely positive (NCP) encoding, and show how such encodings can significantly impact temperature estimation of the environment. We first consider pure entangled probe-environment initial states (Type-I NCP encoding) and analytically show that for probes and environments of equal but arbitrary dimension, the maximum achievable precision matches the thermal-state bound, as in the CP case. However, upon relaxing the constraint of pure probe-environment states and considering general correlated initial states (Type-II NCP encoding), we demonstrate that the estimation precision can surpass the thermal-state limit. This establishes a clear advantage of NCP encoding in enhancing thermometric performance. We illustrate the results using qubit probes interacting with qubit environments via XY interactions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_17537
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Surpassing thermal-state limit in thermometry via non-completely positive quantum encoding
Sarkar, Anindita
Chaki, Paranjoy
Saha, Debarupa
Sen, Ujjwal
Quantum Physics
Conventional quantum thermometry assumes completely positive (CP) encoding maps, where the probe is initially uncorrelated with the environment. We consider realistic scenarios with initial probe-environment correlations leading to physically realizable non-completely positive (NCP) encoding, and show how such encodings can significantly impact temperature estimation of the environment. We first consider pure entangled probe-environment initial states (Type-I NCP encoding) and analytically show that for probes and environments of equal but arbitrary dimension, the maximum achievable precision matches the thermal-state bound, as in the CP case. However, upon relaxing the constraint of pure probe-environment states and considering general correlated initial states (Type-II NCP encoding), we demonstrate that the estimation precision can surpass the thermal-state limit. This establishes a clear advantage of NCP encoding in enhancing thermometric performance. We illustrate the results using qubit probes interacting with qubit environments via XY interactions.
title Surpassing thermal-state limit in thermometry via non-completely positive quantum encoding
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.17537