Quantum Sensing Beyond Exceptional Points via Hidden symmetry-protected vacuum-noise fixed point

Abstract

Exceptional-point (EP) sensing has attracted considerable interest because of its anomalous response scaling. However, recent studies have shown that the enhanced response near an EP is inevitably accompanied by amplified quantum noise, fundamentally limiting the achievable signalto-noise ratio (SNR). Here, we propose a fundamentally different route toward non-Hermitian quantum sensing based on symmetry-protected noise suppression rather than response amplification. We develop a fully quantum continuous-variable model that unifies parity-time (PT) and anti-paritytime(APT) symmetries within a single framework. Exploiting the incompatibility between these two symmetries, we uncover a non-Hermitian Dirac eigenspectrum and reveal a hidden symmetryprotected phase transition embedded in the Hamiltonian spectrum. Remarkably, this hidden phasetransition simultaneously constitutes a symmetry-protected vacuum-noise fixed point, where collective three-mode quadratures exhibit suppressed quantum fluctuations despite the absence of any anomalous spectral response. As a consequence, quantum sensing is enhanced through the suppression of excess quantum noise while maintaining a finite response sensitivity, establishing a sensing mechanism fundamentally different from conventional EP-based approaches. These results reveal an unexpected connection between hidden symmetry, quantum fluctuations, and non-Hermitian quantum metrology, and establish noise suppression as an alternative paradigm for non-Hermitian quantum sensing.