{
  "abstract": "Quantum covert target sensing aims to detect low-reflectivity targets embedded in the thermal environment while avoiding discovery by an adversary. This covertness requirement constrains the admissible probe energy, thereby imposing a trade-off between covertness and sensing performance. However, how this resource constraint determines the ultimate estimation precision of the target parameter remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, we establish a unified framework connecting covert target discrimination with quantum-enhanced parameter estimation. We first present perturbative $ε$-covertness-induced bounds on the probe energy, which yield an admissible energy window narrowing as $\\mathcal{O}(\\sqrt{ε/M})$. Moreover, we introduce the covertness-constrained quantum Fisher information (CCQFI) to quantify the ultimate precision of target-reflectivity estimation and assess its attainability with specific measurements. For Gaussian-distributed coherent-state (GCS) and two-mode squeezed vacuum (TMSV) probes, their CCQFIs scale as $\\mathcal{O}(ε)$ and $\\mathcal{O}(M)+\\mathcal{O}(\\sqrt{εM})+\\mathcal{O}(ε)$, respectively. In particular, in the strong covertness regime $ε\\to0$, the GCS CCQFI vanishes, whereas the TMSV retains a finite $\\mathcal{O}(M)$ contribution exhibiting a pronounced metrological advantage. Besides, photon counting saturates the GCS CCQFI, whereas homodyne detection achieves a higher attainability for the TMSV probe. Our work identifies covertness as a quantitative resource constraint governing the metrological limits of quantum target sensing.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.03233",
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Yu Yang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fengyu Guan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shiping Guo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ruifeng Liu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pei Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fuli Li"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7q50rb5kxmxk7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.03233",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "7q50rb5kxmxk7",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03233",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1702|Quantum Information and Cryptography"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220414221",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.03233",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7q50rb5kxmxk7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:45Z",
      "native_id": "2610.03233",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03233"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Covertness as a resource constraint in quantum target sensing",
  "title_text": "Covertness as a resource constraint in quantum target sensing",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:45Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7q50rb5kxmxk7",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}