EurekAlert March 25, 2021
The field of quantum sensing has shown a lot of potential for detecting very small signals. However, the ability to truly optimize these sensors has been thwarted by the complexity of control schemes. A team of researchers in the US (Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland) applied filter functions and optimal quantum control theories to a use case of qubit sensors that mirror a classic problem in signal detection theory: optimal detection of a known signal from background noise with a controllable quantum sensor. They obtained analytical insight into the optimal control protocol when the background noise is white. They plan to explore this scheme in detecting realistic signals in an experimental setting and explore the use of quantum entanglement to enhance detection likelihood as compared with classical sensors. The work will enable the use of quantum detectors even when the surrounding noise is strong relative to the signal of interest…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Schematic description of the single-qubit experiment for detection of a signal. Credit: npj Quantum Information volume 7, Article number: 53 (2021)Â