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arXiv:1109.6002 · Physical Review A

Reducing sequencing complexity in dynamical quantum error suppression by Walsh modulation

David Hayes, Kaveh Khodjasteh, Lorenza Viola, Michael J. Biercuk

Published Dec 22, 2011• 45 citations
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Abstract

We study dynamical error suppression from the perspective of reducing sequencing complexity, with an eye toward facilitating the development of efficient semiautonomous quantum-coherent systems. To this end, we focus on digital sequences where all interpulse time periods are integer multiples of a minimum clock period and compatibility with digital classical control circuitry is intrinsic. We use so-called Walsh functions as a unifying mathematical framework; the Walsh functions are an orthonormal set of basis functions which may be associated directly with the control propagator for a digital modulation scheme. Using this insight, we characterize the suite of resulting Walsh dynamical decoupling sequences---including both familiar and novel control sequences---and identify the number of periodic square-wave (Rademacher) functions required to generate the associated Walsh function as the key determinant of the error-suppressing features. We also show how Walsh modulation may be employed for the protection of certain nontrivial logic gates. Based on these insights, we identify Walsh modulation as a digital-efficient approach for physical-layer error suppression.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.062323

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We study dynamical error suppression from the perspective of reducing sequencing complexity, with an eye toward facilitating the development of efficient semiautonomous quantum-coherent systems. To this end, we focus on digital sequences where all interpulse time periods are integer multiples of a minimum clock period and compatibility with digital classical control circuitry is intrinsic. We use so-called Walsh functions as a unifying mathematical framework; the Walsh functions are an orthonormal set of basis functions which may be associated directly with the control propagator for a digital modulation scheme. Using this insight, we characterize the suite of resulting Walsh dynamical decoupling sequences---including both familiar and novel control sequences---and identify the number of periodic square-wave (Rademacher) functions required to generate the associated Walsh function as the key determinant of the error-suppressing features. We also show how Walsh modulation may be employed for the protection of certain nontrivial logic gates. Based on these insights, we identify Walsh modulation as a digital-efficient approach for physical-layer error suppression.
We study a novel class of open-loop control protocols constructed to perform arbitrary nontrivial single-qubit logic operations robust against time-dependent non-Markovian noise. Amplitude and phase modulation protocols are crafted leveraging insights from functional synthesis and the basis set of Walsh functions. We employ the experimentally validated generalized filter-transfer function formalism in order to find optimized control protocols for target operations in SU(2) by defining a cost function for the filter-transfer function to be minimized through the applied modulation. Our work details the various techniques by which we define and then optimize the filter-synthesis process in the Walsh basis, including the definition of specific analytic design rules which serve to efficiently constrain the available synthesis space. This approach yields modulated-gate constructions consisting of chains of discrete pulse-segments of arbitrary form, whose modulation envelopes possess intrinsic compatibility with digital logic and clocking. We derive novel families of Walsh-modulated noise filters designed to suppress dephasing and coherent amplitude-damping noise, and describe how well-known sequences derived in NMR also fall within the Walsh-synthesis framework. Finally, our work considers the effects of realistic experimental constraints such as limited modulation bandwidth on achievable filter performance.
We study a novel class of open-loop control protocols constructed to perform arbitrary nontrivial single-qubit logic operations robust against time-dependent non-Markovian noise. Amplitude and phase modulation protocols are crafted leveraging insights from functional synthesis and the basis set of Walsh functions. We employ the experimentally validated generalized filter-transfer function formalism in order to find optimized control protocols for target operations in SU(2) by defining a cost function for the filter-transfer function to be minimized through the applied modulation. Our work details the various techniques by which we define and then optimize the filter-synthesis process in the Walsh basis, including the definition of specific analytic design rules which serve to efficiently constrain the available synthesis space. This approach yields modulated-gate constructions consisting of chains of discrete pulse-segments of arbitrary form, whose modulation envelopes possess intrinsic compatibility with digital logic and clocking. We derive novel families of Walsh-modulated noise filters designed to suppress dephasing and coherent amplitude-damping noise, and describe how well-known sequences derived in NMR also fall within the Walsh-synthesis framework. Finally, our work considers the effects of realistic experimental constraints such as limited modulation bandwidth on achievable filter performance.
Over the past decade we have seen an explosion of demonstrations of quantum coherence in atomic, optical, and condensed matter systems.These developments have placed a new emphasis on the production of robust and optimal quantum control techniques in the presence of environmental noise.We discuss the use of dynamical decoupling as a form of open-loop quantum control capable of suppressing the effects of dephasing in quantum coherent systems.We introduce the concept of dynamical decoupling pulse-sequence construction as a filter-design problem, making connections with filter design from control theory and electrical engineering in the analysis of pulse-sequence performance for the preservation of the phase degree of freedom in a quantum superposition.A detailed mathematical description of how dephasing and the suppression of dephasing can be reduced to a linear control problem is provided, and used as motivation and context for studies of the filtration properties of various dynamical decoupling sequences.Our work then takes this practical perspective in addressing both "standard" sequences derived from nuclear magnetic resonance and novel optimized sequences developed in the context of quantum information.Additionally, we review new techniques for the numerical construction of optimized pulse sequences using the filter-design perspective.We show how the filter-design perspective permits concise comparisons of the relative capabilities of these sequences and reveals the physics underlying their functionality.The use of this new analytical framework allows us to derive new insights into the performance of these sequences and reveals important limiting issues, such as the effect of digital clocking on optimized sequence performance.
Dynamic quantum circuits integrate unitary evolution with mid-circuit measurement and feedforward, enabling conditional operations essential for efficient quantum algorithms and foundational for fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, such operations introduce measurement-induced errors and control constraints that are not addressed by conventional error-suppression techniques. Here, we introduce an empirical learning framework that optimizes dynamical decoupling (DD) sequences for dynamic circuits at the level of circuit subintervals and qubit subregisters. Applying empirically learned DD sequences, we achieve a three-fold reduction in average dynamic circuit error rates as measured via randomized benchmarking. We apply the learned strategies to the dynamic circuit implementation of the quantum Fourier transform with measurement (QFT+M), demonstrating nontrivial process fidelity on connected chains of up to 20 qubits. Applying the resulting enhancement, we perform a high signal-to-noise QFT immediately following the preparation of a 10-qubit entangled state. Our results demonstrate that empirically optimized DD systematically outperforms theoretically derived sequences for dynamic circuits, establishing it as an efficient approach for error suppression in dynamic quantum circuits, with direct relevance to applications requiring measurement and feedback such as quantum error correction.
Over the past decade we have seen an explosion of demonstrations of quantum coherence in atomic, optical, and condensed matter systems. These developments have placed a new emphasis on the production of robust and optimal quantum control techniques in the presence of environmental noise. We discuss the use of dynamical decoupling as a form of open-loop quantum control capable of suppressing the effects of dephasing in quantum coherent systems. We introduce the concept of dynamical decoupling pulse-sequence construction as a filter-design problem, making connections with filter design from control theory and electrical engineering in the analysis of pulse-sequence performance for the preservation of the phase degree of freedom in a quantum superposition. A detailed mathematical description of how dephasing and the suppression of dephasing can be reduced to a linear control problem is provided, and used as motivation and context for studies of the filtration properties of various dynamical decoupling sequences. Our work then takes this practical perspective in addressing both "standard" sequences derived from nuclear magnetic resonance and novel optimized sequences developed in the context of quantum information. Additionally, we review new techniques for the numerical construction of optimized pulse sequences using the filter-design perspective. We show how the filter-design perspective permits concise comparisons of the relative capabilities of these sequences and reveals the physics underlying their functionality. The use of this new analytical framework allows us to derive new insights into the performance of these sequences and reveals important limiting issues, such as the effect of digital clocking on optimized sequence performance.
Quantum computation (QC) relies on the ability to implement high-fidelity quantum gate operations and successfully preserve quantum state coherence. One of the most challenging obstacles for reliable QC is overcoming the inevitable interaction between a quantum system and its environment. Unwanted interactions result in decoherence processes that cause quantum states to deviate from a desired evolution, consequently leading to computational errors and loss of coherence. Dynamical decoupling (DD) is one such method, which seeks to attenuate the effects of decoherence by applying strong and expeditious control pulses solely to the system. Provided the pulses are applied over a time duration sufficiently shorter than the correlation time associated with the environment dynamics, DD effectively averages out undesirable interactions and preserves quantum states with a low probability of error, or fidelity loss. In this study various aspects of this approach are studied from sequence construction to applications of DD to protecting QC. First, a comprehensive examination of the error suppression properties of a near-optimal DD approach is given to understand the relationship between error suppression capabilities and the number of required DD control pulses in the case of ideal, instantaneous pulses. While such considerations are instructive for examining DD efficiency, i.e., performance vs the number of control pulses, high-fidelity DD in realizable systems is difficult to achieve due to intrinsic pulse imperfections which further contribute to decoherence. As a second consideration, it is shown how one can overcome this hurdle and achieve robustness and recover high-fidelity DD in the presence of faulty control pulses using Genetic Algorithm optimization and sequence symmetrization. Thirdly, to illustrate the implementation of DD in conjunction with QC, the utilization of DD and quantum error correction codes (QECCs) as a protection method for adiabatic quantum computing (AQC) is discussed. A performance comparison between two deterministic DD schemes is given, where preference towards one particular method is found due to sequence structure and procedure from which higher accuracy sequences are generated.