English

Phase estimation in lossy optical interferometry without a reference beam

Quantum Physics 2025-06-02 v1

Abstract

We investigate phase estimation in a lossy interferometer using entangled coherent states, with particular focus on a scenario where no reference beam is employed. By calculating the quantum Fisher information, we reveal two key results: (1) the metrological equivalence between scenarios with and without a reference beam, established under ideal lossless conditions for the two-phase-shifting configuration,breaks down in the presence of photon loss, and (2) the pronounced inferior performance of entangled coherent states relative to NOON states, observed in the presence of a reference beam, disappears in its absence.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.24770,
  title  = {Phase estimation in lossy optical interferometry without a reference beam},
  author = {Jun Tang and Dong-Qing Wang and Wei Zhong and Lan Zhou and Yu-Bo Sheng},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.24770},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

7 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T02:51:06.136Z