Lattice quantum magnetometry

We put forward the idea of lattice quantum magnetometry, i.e., quantum sensing of magnetic fields by a charged (spinless) particle placed on a finite two-dimensional lattice. In particular, we focus on the detection of a locally static transverse magnetic field, either homogeneous or inhomogeneous, by performing ground-state measurements. The system turns out to be of interest as a quantum magnetometer, since it provides non-negligible quantum Fisher information (QFI) in a large range of configurations. Moreover, the QFI shows some relevant peaks, determined by the spectral properties of the Hamiltonian, suggesting that certain values of the magnetic fields may be estimated better than others, depending on the value of other tunable parameters. We also assess the performance of coarse-grained position measurement, showing that it may be employed to realize nearly optimal estimation strategies.