Geometric bounds on multiparameter Heisenberg scaling in optical metrology with limited squeezed resources

Abstract

The simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters is a central task in quantum metrology, distributed sensing, and the calibration of large photonic interferometers. A fundamental question is how many independent parameter combinations can inherit Heisenberg scaling from a given number of squeezed probes in a multimode Gaussian network. Here, we answer this question for arbitrary passive linear optical networks. For a $p$-parameter, $M$-channel interferometer probed by $k$ single-mode squeezed states and at least one coherent state in the remaining channels, we show that the rank of the Heisenberg-scaling coefficient of the quantum Fisher information matrix is bounded by $n_{\rm HS}\le \min\{p,k(k+3)/2\}$, which corresponds to the maximum number of independent combinations of parameters that can be estimated with Heisenberg-scaling sensitivity. The bound separates into two geometrically distinct contributions. The covariance contribution of the quantum Fisher information, which describes squeezing-enhanced fluctuations, provides at most $k(k+1)/2$ parameter combinations estimable at Heisenberg-scaling sensitivity, while the first-moment contribution provides at most $k$ additional independent parameter combinations with Heisenberg-scaling sensitivity. We identify the conditions for saturating these bounds and construct a passive family of interferometers that saturates these bounds.