Experimental Distributed Quantum Sensing in a Noisy Environment

Area of Science:

• Quantum sensing
• Quantum information science
• Experimental physics

Background:

• Quantum states in sensors provide precision advantages.
• Noise can compromise these quantum sensing advantages.
• Theoretical work suggests noise spatial profiles different from the signal can be exploited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate a quantum sensing protocol.
• To show how quantum entanglement can maintain and improve sensing precision in the presence of noise.
• To compare the quantum protocol's performance against classical strategies.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing trapped-ion sensors.
• Creating an entangled state of multidimensional sensors.
• Implementing a protocol to isolate signals from noise with different spatial profiles.

Main Results:

• The quantum protocol successfully isolated and detected signals.
• The protocol demonstrated insensitivity to overwhelming noise fields.
• The quantum protocol outperformed a perfect classical strategy without entanglement.
• The demonstration was performed for magnetic and electromagnetic fields over micron distances.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated quantum sensing protocol effectively overcomes noise limitations.
• The technique is scalable to arbitrary distances and fields.
• This work presents a promising application for quantum sensor networks.