Informationally Complete Distributed Metrology Without a Shared Reference Frame
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.06393 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 10 Jan 2026] Title:Informationally Complete Distributed Metrology Without a Shared Reference Frame Authors:Hua-Qing Xu, Gong-Chu Li, Xu-Song Hong, Lei Chen, Si-Qi Zhang, Yuancheng Liu, Geng Chen, Chuan-Feng Li, Guang-Can Guo View a PDF of the paper titled Informationally Complete Distributed Metrology Without a Shared Reference Frame, by Hua-Qing Xu and 8 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:In quantum information processing, implementing arbitrary preparations and measurements on qubits necessitates precise information to identify a specific reference frame (RF). In space quantum communication and sensing, where a shared RF is absent, the interplay between locality and symmetry imposes fundamental restrictions on physical systems. A restriction on realizable unitary operations results in a no-go theorem prohibiting the extraction of locally encoded information in RF-independent distributed metrology. Here, we propose a reversed-encoding method applied to two copies of local-unitary-invariant network states. This approach circumvents the no-go theorem while simultaneously mitigating decoherence-like noise caused by RF misalignment, thereby enabling the complete recovery of the quantum Fisher information (QFI). Furthermore, we confirm local Bell-state measurements as an optimal strategy to saturate the QFI. Our findings pave the way for the field application of distributed quantum sensing, which is inherently subject to unknown RF misalignment and was previously precluded by the no-go theorem. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2601.06393 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.06393v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.06393 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Related DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67771-9 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Gongchu Li [view email] [v1] Sat, 10 Jan 2026 02:37:51 UTC (2,400 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Informationally Complete Distributed Metrology Without a Shared Reference Frame, by Hua-Qing Xu and 8 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-01 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)