Time uncertainty and fundamental sensitivity limits in quantum sensing: application to optomechanical gravimetry

Abstract

High-sensitivity accelerometers and gravimeters, achieving the ultimate limits of measurement sensitivity are key tools for advancing both fundamental and applied physics. While numerous platforms have been proposed to achieve this goal, from atom interferometers to optomechanical systems, all of these studies neglect the effects of intrinsic quantum uncertainty in time estimation. Starting from the Hamiltonian of a generic linear quantum sensor, we derive the two-parameter quantum Fisher information matrix and establish the corresponding Cram'er-Rao bound, treating time as an uncertain (nuisance) parameter. Our analysis reveals a fundamental coupling between time and signal estimation that inherently degrades measurement sensitivity, with the standard single-parameter quantum limit recovered only at specific interrogation times or under special decoupling conditions. We then apply these results to an optomechanical gravimeter and explicitly derive an optimal decoupling condition under which the effects of time uncertainty are averaged out in a continuous measurement scheme. Our approach is general and can be readily extended to a broad class of quantum sensors.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Relative degradation in sensitivity caused by the correlation with the nuisance parameter $t$: $\sqrt{\varepsilon(t)}-1=\Delta g (t)/\Delta g_{\mathrm{single}}(t)-1$. Optomechanical parameters: $m=10^{-14}\,\mathrm{kg}$, $\omega_m=100\,\mathrm{rad\,s^{-1}}$, $\bar{k}=1963$, $\mu=10^{6}$, $\beta_R=1$, $\beta_I=0$ (cf Ref. NonlinearGravimetry2018).
• Figure 2: Comparison between CFI at stroboscopic times and QFI for the optomechanical parameters listed in Fig. \ref{['fig1']}.