Sub-shot-noise sensitivity via superpositions of two deformed kitten states

Abstract

In the present work we explore nonclassical effects in the phase space of two superposed kitten states induced by photon addition and subtraction operations applied in different sequences. We investigate two scenarios: In the first, photon addition is applied to the state, followed by photon subtraction, while in the second, the order of operations is reversed. We demonstrate that applying multiphoton operations to the state results in notable nearly isotropic sub-Planck structures, with the characteristics of these structures being influenced by the photon addition and subtraction. Increasing the number of added photons compresses the sub-Planck structures in both cases. Photon subtraction, however, has the opposite effect on the sub-Planck structures in the first case and no effect in the second. Furthermore, we observe that the optimal choices of multiphoton operations lead to improved isotropy of sub-Planck structures in our cases. The presence of the sub-Planck structures in our states leads to improved sensitivity to displacements, exceeding the standard quantum limit, as verified across all the depicted scenarios.