Non-Markovian enhancement of nonequilibrium quantum thermometry

Abstract

Accurate measurement at low temperatures is essential for both gaining a fundamental understanding of physical processes and developing technological applications. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework for quantum temperature sensing in a composite environment with non-Markovian dynamics. Our suggested system uses a single qubit as a temperature sensor to test its sensitivity in calculating the temperature of a composite environment. We show that the temperature sensor's sensitivity can saturate the quantum Cramér-Rao bound by measuring the σ[over ̂]_{z} observable of the probe qubit. Temperature sensing performance is measured using the quantum signal-to-noise ratio. We underline how non-Markovianity can enhance the performance of our thermometers. Furthermore, we emphasize that nonequilibrium conditions do not always result in the best sensitivities in temperature estimation.