Discrete-outcome sensor networks. II. Multiple detection events and grouping detectors

Quantum sensor networks have often been studied in order to determine how accurately they can determine a parameter, such as the strength of a magnetic field, at one of the detectors. A more coarse-grained approach is to try to simply determine whether a detector has interacted with a signal or not, and which detector it was. Such discrete-outcome quantum sensor networks, discrete in the sense that we are seeking answers to yes-no questions, are what we study here. One issue is what is a good initial state for the network, and, in particular, should it be entangled or not. Earlier we looked at the case when only one detector interacted, and here we extend that study in two ways. First, we allow more than one detector to interact, and second, we examine the effect of grouping the detectors. When the detectors are grouped we are only interested in which group contained interacting detectors and not in which individual detectors within a group interacted. We find that in the case of grouping detectors, entangled initial states can be helpful.