Physicists Create Quantum-Inspired Optical Sensor

(Phys.org) Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, joined by a colleague from Argonne National Laboratory, U.S., have implemented an advanced quantum algorithm for measuring physical quantities using simple optical tools. Their study takes us a step closer to affordable linear optics-based sensors with high performance characteristics. Such tools are sought after in diverse research fields, from astronomy to biology.
Quantum metrology is a cutting-edge area of physics concerned with the technological and algorithmic tools for making highly precise quantum measurements. In their recent study, the team from MIPT and ANL fused quantum metrology with linear optics.
“This research is a follow-up to our work on universal quantum measurement algorithms,” commented principal investigator Gordey Lesovik, who heads the MIPT Laboratory of the Physics of Quantum Information Technology. “In an earlier collaboration with a research group from Aalto University in Finland, we experimentally implemented a similar measurement algorithm on transmon qubits.”
“The study has demonstrated that linear optics offers an affordable and effective platform for implementing moderate-scale quantum measurements and computations,” said Argonne Distinguished Fellow Valerii Vinokur.