Rare-Event Quantum Sensing using Logical Qubits

Abstract

We present a novel protocol to detect rare signals in a noisy environment using quantum error correction (QEC). The key feature of our protocol is the discrimination between signal and noise through distinct higher-order correlations, realized by the non-linear processing that occurs during syndrome extraction in QEC. In this scheme, QEC has two effects: First, it sacrifices part of the signal $\epsilon$ by recording a reduced, stochastic, logical phase $\phi_L = \mathcal{O}(\epsilon^3)$. Second, it corrects the physical noise and extends the (logical) coherence time for signal acquisition. For rare signals occurring at random times in the presence of local Markovian noise, we explicitly demonstrate an improved sensitivity of our approach over more conventional sensing strategies.