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Precision limit under weak-coupling with ancillary qubit

arXiv Quantum Physics
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⚡ Quantum Brief
Researchers Peng Chen and Jun Jing propose a novel quantum metrology protocol using a spin ensemble weakly coupled to an ancillary qubit via Heisenberg XXZ interaction, achieving Heisenberg-limited precision without complex entangled states. The protocol leverages unconditional qubit measurements to split the probe’s evolution into two distinct paths, transforming initial eigenstates into two-component states with maximal eigenspace separation, enabling quadratic scaling of quantum Fisher information with probe size. Unlike traditional methods relying on GHZ states or squeezing Hamiltonians, this approach maintains robustness against imperfect phase encoding and coupling strength variations, even with mixed-state probes. Phase sensitivity reaches the Heisenberg limit through simple parity detection on either the ancillary qubit or the probe system, simplifying experimental implementation while preserving metrological advantage. The work suggests unconditional qubit measurements could replace resource-intensive entanglement schemes, offering a scalable, fault-tolerant pathway to surpass the standard quantum limit in precision metrology.
Precision limit under weak-coupling with ancillary qubit

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Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.15354 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 21 Jan 2026] Title:Precision limit under weak-coupling with ancillary qubit Authors:Peng Chen, Jun Jing View a PDF of the paper titled Precision limit under weak-coupling with ancillary qubit, by Peng Chen and Jun Jing View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:We propose a measurement-based quantum metrology protocol in a composite model, where the probe system (a spin ensemble) is coupled to an ancillary two-level system (qubit) with a general Heisenberg XXZ interaction. With an optimized and weak probe-ancilla coupling strength and a proper duration of joint evolution, the two parallel evolution paths of the probe system induced by the unconditional measurement on qubit can transform an eigenstate of the collective angular momentum operator of spin ensemble to be a two-component state with a large distance in eigenspace. The quantum Fisher information about the phase encoded in the probe system of polarized states or their superposition, that could be relaxed to mixed states, can therefore manifest an exact or asymptotic quadratic scaling with respect to the probe size (spin number) $N$. The quadratic scaling behavior is found to be insensitive to the imperfect encoding operator and coupling strength. By virtue of the parity detection on the ancillary qubit or the probe system, the phase sensitivity can approach the Heisenberg limit. We suggest that the unconditional measurement on qubit could become an efficient resource to replace Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-like states and squeezing Hamiltonian for exceeding the standard quantum limit in metrology precision. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2601.15354 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.15354v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.15354 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Peng Chen [view email] [v1] Wed, 21 Jan 2026 06:01:51 UTC (1,853 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Precision limit under weak-coupling with ancillary qubit, by Peng Chen and Jun JingView 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?)

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Source: arXiv Quantum Physics