Quantum-enhanced SU(1,1) interferometry via a Fock state and an arbitrary state

Abstract

In this paper, we derive a general expression of the quantum Fisher information of an SU(1,1) interferometer with an arbitrary state and a Fock state as inputs by the phase-averaging method. Our results show that the same quantum Fisher information can be obtained regardless of the specific form of the arbitrary state. Then, we analytically prove that the parity measurement can saturate the quantum Cramer–Rao bound when the estimated phase sits at the optimal working point. For practical reasons, we investigate the phase sensitivity when the arbitrary state is a coherent or thermal state. We further show that a Fock state can indeed enhance the phase sensitivity within a constraint on the total mean photon number inside the interferometer.