Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry
The unknown temperature of a sample can be estimated with minimal disturbance by putting it in thermal contact with an individual quantum probe. If the interaction time is sufficiently long so that the probe thermalizes, the temperature can be read-out directly from its steady state. Here we prove t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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American Physical Society
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40775/ |
| _version_ | 1848796130684436480 |
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| author | Correa, Luis A. Mehboudi, Mohammad Adesso, Gerardo Sanpera, Anna |
| author_facet | Correa, Luis A. Mehboudi, Mohammad Adesso, Gerardo Sanpera, Anna |
| author_sort | Correa, Luis A. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The unknown temperature of a sample can be estimated with minimal disturbance by putting it in thermal contact with an individual quantum probe. If the interaction time is sufficiently long so that the probe thermalizes, the temperature can be read-out directly from its steady state. Here we prove that the optimal quantum probe, acting as a thermometer with maximal thermal sensitivity, is an effective two-level atom with a maximally degenerate excited state. When the total interaction time is insufficient to produce full thermalization, we optimize the estimation protocol by breaking it down into sequential stages of probe preparation, thermal contact, and measurement. We observe that frequently interrogated probes initialized in the ground state achieve the best performance. For both fully and partly thermalized thermometers, the sensitivity grows significantly with the number of levels, though optimization over their energy spectrum remains always crucial. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:43:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-40775 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:43:06Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-407752020-05-04T17:11:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40775/ Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry Correa, Luis A. Mehboudi, Mohammad Adesso, Gerardo Sanpera, Anna The unknown temperature of a sample can be estimated with minimal disturbance by putting it in thermal contact with an individual quantum probe. If the interaction time is sufficiently long so that the probe thermalizes, the temperature can be read-out directly from its steady state. Here we prove that the optimal quantum probe, acting as a thermometer with maximal thermal sensitivity, is an effective two-level atom with a maximally degenerate excited state. When the total interaction time is insufficient to produce full thermalization, we optimize the estimation protocol by breaking it down into sequential stages of probe preparation, thermal contact, and measurement. We observe that frequently interrogated probes initialized in the ground state achieve the best performance. For both fully and partly thermalized thermometers, the sensitivity grows significantly with the number of levels, though optimization over their energy spectrum remains always crucial. American Physical Society 2015-06-05 Article PeerReviewed Correa, Luis A., Mehboudi, Mohammad, Adesso, Gerardo and Sanpera, Anna (2015) Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry. Physical Review Letters, 114 (22). p. 220405. ISSN 1079-7114 http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.220405 doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.220405 doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.220405 |
| spellingShingle | Correa, Luis A. Mehboudi, Mohammad Adesso, Gerardo Sanpera, Anna Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title | Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title_full | Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title_fullStr | Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title_short | Individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| title_sort | individual quantum probes for optimal thermometry |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40775/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40775/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40775/ |