Dynamic Estimation Loss Control in Variational Quantum Sensing via Online Conformal Inference

Quantum sensing exploits non-classical effects to overcome limitations of classical sensors, with applications ranging from gravitational-wave detection to nanoscale imaging. However, practical quantum sensors built on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices face significant noise and sampling constraints, and current variational quantum sensing (VQS) methods lack rigorous performance guarantees. This paper proposes an online control framework for VQS that dynamically updates the variational parameters while providing deterministic error bars on the estimates. By leveraging online conformal inference techniques, the approach produces sequential estimation sets with a guaranteed long-term risk level. Experiments on a quantum magnetometry task confirm that the proposed dynamic VQS approach maintains the required reliability over time, while still yielding precise estimates. The results demonstrate the practical benefits of combining variational quantum algorithms with online conformal inference to achieve reliable quantum sensing on NISQ devices.

On the Capacity of Correlated MIMO Phase-Noise Channels: An Electro-Optic Frequency Comb Example

The capacity of a discrete-time multiple-input-multiple-output channel with correlated phase noises is investigated. In particular, the electro-optic frequency comb system is considered, where the phase noise of each channel is a combination of two independent Wiener phase-noise sources. Capacity upper and lower bounds are derived for this channel and are compared with lower bounds obtained by numerically evaluating the achievable information rates using quadrature amplitude modulation constellations. Capacity upper and lower bounds are provided for the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. The multiplexing gain (pre-log) is shown to be $M-1$, where $M$ represents the number of channels. A constant gap between the asymptotic upper and lower bounds is observed, which depends on the number of channels $M$. For the specific case of $M=2$, capacity is characterized up to a term that vanishes as the SNR grows large.