English

Higher-order noise statistics restore Heisenberg scaling under collective dephasing

Quantum Physics 2026-07-03 v1

Abstract

Noisy-metrology theory characterizes decoherence by its two-point correlation function, equivalently the single-atom coherence time or noise spectrum. We show this is insufficient for entangled probes: two collective baths with identical single-atom T2T_2 but different higher-order statistics yield opposite entanglement-enhanced scaling. Under Gaussian Markovian collective dephasing a Greenberger--Horne--Zeilinger (GHZ) probe reaches an atom-number-independent sensitivity floor. For a fully Markovian compound-Poisson bath, in which collective dephasing is generated by a finite-rate sequence of unitary phase kicks, a Dicke coherence of order qq (a difference of JzJ_z eigenvalues) decays at Γq=Γ[1Reφ(q)]\Gamma_q=\Gamma[1-\mathrm{Re}\,\varphi(q)], with φ\varphi the kick characteristic function; for any absolutely continuous kick law this rate saturates at large qq instead of growing as q2q^2, and a GHZ probe recovers Heisenberg scaling δω1/N\delta\omega\propto1/N over the window in which collective finite-rate noise dominates residual independent decoherence. We prove that the Gaussian floor is the exact worst case: at fixed single-atom coherence time every finite-rate kick statistics strictly beats it, and for arbitrary L\'evy phase noise the asymptotic entangled-probe sensitivity is set exclusively by the diffusive component. A converse bound shows that no input state, ancilla, or measurement improves on the GHZ scaling. The mechanism is purely exponential and CP-divisible, distinct from the Zeno, non-Markovian, nonlinear-generator, and error-correction routes. A dissipative analogue caps the Dicke superradiant burst. The full counting statistics of common noise thus emerge as a control axis for noisy quantum metrology, beyond the spectrum.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.02962,
  title  = {Higher-order noise statistics restore Heisenberg scaling under collective dephasing},
  author = {Jiaxin Liu and Xing Heng and Zuoxian Wang and Danyue Ma},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.02962},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

8 pages, 4 figures