Parameter estimation by multichannel photon counting
Alexander Holm Kiilerich, Klaus Mølmer · Physical Review A · 2015
The physical parameters governing the dynamics of a light-emitting quantum system can be estimated from the photon counting signal. The information available in the full detection record can be analyzed by means of the distribution of waiting times between detection events. Our theory allows calculation of the asymptotic, long-time behavior of the sensitivity limit, and it applies to emission processes with branching towards different final states accompanied by the emission of distinguishable photons. We illustrate the theory by application to a laser-driven $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atom.