Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield, S3 7RH, United Kingdom.
Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Apr 21;130(16):160801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.160801.
In this Letter, we show that by combining quantum metrology and networking tools, it is possible to extend the baseline of an interferometric optical telescope and thus improve diffraction-limited imaging of point source positions. The quantum interferometer is based on single-photon sources, linear optical circuits, and efficient photon number counters. Surprisingly, with thermal (stellar) sources of low photon number per mode and high transmission losses across the baseline, the detected photon probability distribution still retains a large amount of Fisher information about the source position, allowing for a significant improvement in the resolution of positioning point sources, on the order of 10 μas. Our proposal can be implemented with current technology. In particular, our proposal does not require experimental optical quantum memories.
在这封信件中，我们展示了通过结合量子计量学和网络工具，可以延长干涉式光学望远镜的基线，从而改善点源位置的衍射极限成像。量子干涉仪基于单光子源、线性光学电路和高效光子数计数器。令人惊讶的是，对于每个模式的低光子数和跨越基线的高传输损耗的热（恒星）源，检测到的光子概率分布仍然保留了大量关于源位置的 Fisher 信息，这使得点源定位的分辨率得到了显著提高，大约为 10 μas。我们的方案可以用当前的技术来实现。特别是，我们的方案不需要实验光学量子存储器。
