Quantum-limited metrology and Bose-Einstein condensates

We discuss a quantum-metrology protocol designed to estimate a physical parameter in a Bose-Einstein condensate of $N$ atoms, and we show that the measurement uncertainty can decrease faster than $1/N$. The $1/N$ scaling is usually thought to be the best possible in any measurement scheme. From the perspective of quantum information theory, we outline the main idea that leads to a measurement uncertainty that scales better than $1/N$. We examine in detail some potential problems and challenges that arise in implementing such a measurement protocol using a Bose-Einstein condensate. We discuss how some of these issues can be dealt with by using lower-dimensional condensates trapped in nonharmonic potentials.