Distributed Quantum Metrology with Linear Networks and Separable Inputs.

We derive a bound on the ability of a linear-optical network to estimate a linear combination of independent phase shifts by using an arbitrary nonclassical but unentangled input state, thereby elucidating the quantum resources required to obtain the Heisenberg limit with a multiport interferometer. Our bound reveals that while linear networks can generate highly entangled states, they cannot effectively combine quantum resources that are well distributed across multiple modes for the purposes of metrology: In this sense, linear networks endowed with well-distributed quantum resources behave classically. Conversely, our bound shows that linear networks can achieve the Heisenberg limit for distributed metrology when the input photons are concentrated in a small number of input modes, and we present an explicit scheme for doing so.