Accessible precisions for estimating two conjugate parameters using Gaussian probes

Abstract

We analyze the precision limits for a simultaneous estimation of a pair of conjugate parameters in a displacement channel using Gaussian probes. Having a set of squeezed states as an initial resource, we compute the Holevo Cramér-Rao bound to investigate the best achievable estimation precisions if only passive linear operations are allowed to be performed on the resource prior to probing the channel. The analysis reveals the optimal measurement scheme and allows us to quantify the best precision for one parameter when the precision of the second conjugate parameter is fixed. To estimate the conjugate parameter pair with equal precision, our analysis shows that the optimal probe is obtained by combining two squeezed states with orthogonal squeezing quadratures on a 50:50 beam splitter. If different importance is attached to each parameter, then the optimal mixing ratio is no longer 50:50. Instead, it follows a simple function of the available squeezing and the relative importance between the two parameters.