Heisenberg-limited Frequency Estimation via Driving through Quantum Phase Transitions

Abstract: High-precision frequency estimation is an ubiquitous issue in fundamental physics and a critical task in spectroscopy. Here, we propose a quantum Ramsey interferometry to realize high-precision frequency estimation in spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate via driving the system through quantum phase transitions(QPTs). In our scheme, we combine adiabatically driving the system through QPTs with {\pi}/2 pulse to realize the initialization and recombination. Through adjusting the laser frequency under fixed evolution time, one can extract the transition frequency via the lock-in point. The lock-in point can be determined from the pattern of the population measurement. In particular, we find the measurement precision of frequency can approach to the Heisenberg-limited scaling. Moreover, the scheme is robust against detection noise and non-adiabatic effect. Our proposed scheme does not require single-particle resolved detection and is within the reach of current experiment techniques. Our study may point out a new way for high-precision frequency estimation.