Single-Shot Fidelity Reveals Hard and Soft Limits: A Universal Yardstick for Photon-Number-Resolving Detectors

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02503v1
• Date: Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:07:53 GMT
• Title: Single-Shot Fidelity Reveals Hard and Soft Limits: A Universal Yardstick for Photon-Number-Resolving Detectors
• Abstract summary: We introduce a universal single-shot fidelity that directly quantifies the probability of correctly identifying a photon number in a single measurement.<n>The framework combines an efficiency-based POVM with a resolution-driven confusion matrix derived from the detector response.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors are essential for photonic quantum computing, where a single measurement outcome must reliably herald a specific quantum state. However, detector fidelity is conventionally evaluated using ensemble-averaged statistics obtained from many measurements, which can remain high even when individual photon-number assignments are frequently misidentified. Here we introduce a universal single-shot fidelity that directly quantifies the probability of correctly identifying a photon number in a single measurement. The framework combines an efficiency-based POVM with a resolution-driven confusion matrix derived from the detector response, allowing photon loss and photon-number misidentification to be treated separately and then recombined into a single operational metric. This distinction reveals two fundamentally different limitations. Detection-efficiency loss represents an unrecoverable hardware constraint, whereas resolution-driven misidentification can be reduced by introducing a rejection region, trading generation rate for confidence. Because the metric is defined independently of detector architecture, it enables direct comparison between energy-resolving detectors such as transition-edge sensors and multiplexed click-based detectors on the same footing. Applying the framework to calibration data from three distinct detector architectures, we demonstrate quantitative comparison across photon-number regimes relevant to both discrete-variable and continuous-variable photonic quantum computing. The resulting benchmark provides a common operational metric for evaluating photon-number-resolving detectors and connecting detector performance to photonic quantum-computing requirements.

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