Quantum Limits of Exoplanet Detection and Localization

[2403.17988] Quantum Limits of Exoplanet Detection and Localization Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Quantum Physics arXiv:2403.17988 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 25 Mar 2024 ( v1 ), last revised 18 Jun 2025 (this version, v3)] Title: Quantum Limits of Exoplanet Detection and Localization Authors: Nico Deshler , Sebastiaan Haffert , Amit Ashok View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Discovering exoplanets in orbit around distant stars via direct imaging is fundamentally impeded by the combined effect of optical diffraction and photon shot noise under extreme star-planet contrast. Coronagraphs strive to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of exoplanet signatures by optically suppressing light from the host star while preserving light from the exoplanet. However, it is unclear whether direct imaging coronagraphs constitute an optimal strategy for attaining fundamental limits relevant to exoplanet discovery. In this work, we first review the quantum information limits of exoplanet detection and localization characterized by (1) the quantum Chernoff exponent for symmetric hypothesis testing, (2) the quantum relative entropy for asymmetric hypothesis testing, and (3) the quantum Fisher information matrix for multiparameter estimation. We demonstrate that coronagraphs designed to completely suppress light in the fundamental mode of the telescope - while perfectly transmitting higher-order orthogonal modes - indeed achieve these limits in the regime of high star-planet contrasts. Furthermore, we formulate coronagraphs as quantum channels, thus generalizing the classical framework of coronography to the quantum setting. Using this framework, we compare the information-theoretic performance of leading coronagraph designs against the quantum limits. Our analysis indicates that quantum-optimal coronagraphs offer enhanced information efficiency in the sub-diffraction regime compared to leading coronagraph designs and may significantly expand the domain of accessible exoplanets. Comments: 32 pages, 11 figures Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) ; Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) Cite as: arXiv:2403.17988 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2403.17988v3 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2403.17988 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1103/g6kr-mqdj Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Nico Deshler [ view email ] [v1] Mon, 25 Mar 2024 21:51:05 UTC (5,433 KB) [v2] Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:06:10 UTC (10,196 KB) [v3] Wed, 18 Jun 2025 04:15:12 UTC (5,684 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph < prev | next > new | recent | 2024-03 Change to browse by: astro-ph astro-ph.EP astro-ph.IM References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab) Major funding support from

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