Overcoming Quantum Metrology Singularity through Sequential Measurements

Abstract

The simultaneous estimation of multiple unknown parameters is the most general scenario in quantum sensing. Quantum multi-parameter estimation theory provides fundamental bounds on the achievable precision of simultaneous estimation. However, these bounds can become singular (no finite bound exists) in multi-parameter sensing due to parameter interdependencies, limited probe accessibility, and insufficient measurement outcomes. Here, we address the singularity issue in quantum sensing through a simple mechanism based on a sequential measurement strategy. This sensing scheme overcomes the singularity constraint and enables the simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters with a local and fixed measurement throughout the sensing protocol. This is because sequential measurements, involving consecutive steps of local measurements followed by probe evolution, inherently produce correlated measurement data that grows exponentially with the number of sequential measurements. Finally, through two different examples, namely a strongly correlated probe and a light-matter system, we demonstrate how such singularities are reflected when inferring the unknown parameters through Bayesian estimation.