Covertness as a resource constraint in quantum target sensing
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 𝒪(√(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 𝒪(ε) and 𝒪(M)+𝒪(√(εM))+𝒪(ε), respectively. In particular, in the strong covertness regime ε→0, the GCS CCQFI vanishes, whereas the TMSV retains a finite 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.
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BibTeX
@misc{yang2026covertness,
title = {{Covertness as a resource constraint in quantum target sensing}},
author = {Yu Yang and Fengyu Guan and Shiping Guo and Ruifeng Liu and Pei Zhang and Fuli Li},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.03233},
eprint = {2610.03233},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03233},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Covertness as a resource constraint in quantum target sensing
AU - Yu Yang
AU - Fengyu Guan
AU - Shiping Guo
AU - Ruifeng Liu
AU - Pei Zhang
AU - Fuli Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.03233
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03233
AB - 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 𝒪(√(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 𝒪(ε) and 𝒪(M)+𝒪(√(εM))+𝒪(ε), respectively. In particular, in the strong covertness regime ε→0, the GCS CCQFI vanishes, whereas the TMSV retains a finite 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.
ER -