Interferometric Phase Estimation Though Quantum Filtering in Coherent States

Abstract: We derive the form of the quantum filter equation describing the continuous observation of the phase of a quantum system in an arm of an interferometer via non-demolition measurements when the statistics of an input field used for the indirect measurement are in a general coherent state. Both quadrature homodyne detection and photon-counting dection schemes are covered, and we solve the linearized filter for a specific application.