English

Fundamental quantum limits to waveform detection

Quantum Physics 2012-10-17 v3 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Abstract

Ever since the inception of gravitational-wave detectors, limits imposed by quantum mechanics to the detection of time-varying signals have been a subject of intense research and debate. Drawing insights from quantum information theory, quantum detection theory, and quantum measurement theory, here we prove lower error bounds for waveform detection via a quantum system, settling the long-standing problem. In the case of optomechanical force detection, we derive analytic expressions for the bounds in some cases of interest and discuss how the limits can be approached using quantum control techniques.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1204.3697,
  title  = {Fundamental quantum limits to waveform detection},
  author = {Mankei Tsang and Ranjith Nair},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1204.3697},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

v1: first draft, 5 pages; v2: updated and extended, 5 pages + appendices, 2 figures; v3: 8 pages and 3 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-21T20:50:31.891Z