Time-adaptive phase estimation

Phase estimation is known to be a robust method for single-qubit gate calibration in quantum computers, while Bayesian estimation is widely used in devising optimal methods for learning in quantum systems. We present a Bayesian method that adaptively chooses a control phase and the time of coherent evolution. The novelty of the approach is to use analytics to implement an efficient numerical algorithm that offers exact calculation of the Bayesian probability and associated utility functions, even in the presence of noise. We determine the utility of control parameter values using functions of the prior probability of the phase that quantify expected knowledge gain either in terms of expected narrowing of the posterior or expected information gain. We find that by maximising the of expected gain we obtain phase estimates having standard deviation a factor of 1.43 larger than the Heisenberg limit using a classical sequential strategy for noise-free experiments. In the presence of dephasing, we find near-optimal performance with respect to the Cram'er-Rao bound. We also demonstrate some robustness of the estimates to noise that is not accounted for in the model of the estimator, making the methods suitable for calibrating operations in quantum computers. The rate of gain can be adjusted to account for times in the experiment other than the coherent evolution of the unknown phase, such as times required for state preparation or readout. The combined features of the method make it well-suited to single-qubit gate calibration in trapped-ion or neutral atom experiments and promises a wide range of other applications by offering near-optimal phase estimation that straightforwardly accounts for experimental imperfections.