Optimal probes for continuous variable quantum illumination

• Main Authors: Bradshaw, Mark, Conlon, Lorcan O., Tserkis, Spyros, Gu, Mile, Lam, Ping Koy, Assad, Syed M.
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Science::Physics; Coherent State; Continuous Variables
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/160579
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Quantum illumination is the task of determining the presence of an object in a noisy environment. We determine the optimal continuous variable states for quantum illumination in the limit of zero object reflectivity. We prove that the optimal single mode state is a coherent state, while the optimal two mode state is the two-mode squeezed-vacuum state. We find that these probes are not optimal at non-zero reflectivity, but remain near optimal. This demonstrates the viability of the continuous variable platform for an experimentally accessible, near optimal quantum illumination implementation.