Quantized integrable systems can be made to perform universal quantum computation by the application of a global time-varying control. The action-angle variables of the integrable system function as qubits or qudits, which can be coupled selectively by the global control to induce universal quantum logic gates. By contrast, chaotic quantum systems, even if controllable, do not generically allow quantum computation under global control.
Quantized integrable systems can be made to perform universal quantum computation by the application of a global time-varying control. The action-angle variables of the integrable system function as qubits or qudits, which can be coupled selectively by the global control to induce universal quantum logic gates. By contrast, chaotic quantum systems, even if controllable, do not generically allow quantum computation under global control.
A quantum computer is similar to an ordinary computer, except that instead of bits it uses two-level quantum systems (qubits), and the usual logical operations on bits are replaced with noiseless quantum dynamics in the form of unitary gates or Hamiltonian interactions. Many sets of resources that are universal for quantum computation (that is, capable of implementing any quantum computation) have been found, but general conditions for universality are still only partially understood. Improving our understanding of these conditions contributes to two broad goals. On the one hand, understanding what class of physical systems is suitable for quantum computation allows us choose the systems that are most easily controlled or built in the laboratory. On the other hand, identifying the unifying characteristics of such a class provides insight into the fundamental physics responsible for the much greater computational power of quantum computers. The original results presented in this thesis are a contribution to our understanding of the physical requirements for universal quantum computation. These results lead to the identification of a new, large class of universal dynamics. More specifically, the main problem that is addressed is the following: consider a physical system that is made up of a finite number of qubits that are subject to a natural, fixed interaction described by a two-body Hamiltonian. Suppose we have the ability to control the system only by applying fast one-qubit operations. Under what conditions is this system capable of universal quantum computation? The first original result of the thesis is to prove that universal quantum computation is possible under these conditions given the single extra constraint that the Hamiltonian must entangle, or connect, all of the qubits. In other words, since a two-body Hamiltonian is expressible as a sum of coupling terms each of which acts nontrivially on a pair of qubits, consider the graph whose vertices correspond to qubits and whose edges connect qubits that are coupled by a term in the Hamiltonian. Then this Hamiltonian, together with fast one-qubit unitaries, is universal for quantum computation precisely when the corresponding graph is connected. This result suggests many potential generalizations, three of which are explored in this thesis. The first generalization is to show that the same result holds for a two-body Hamiltonian that acts on D-dimensional quantum systems (qudits), given fast one-qudit unitaries. A second extension is to the case of a many-body Hamiltonian, that is, a Hamiltonian that has coupling terms that act on more than two qubits. Again, we find that under mild restrictions, such Hamiltonians are universal provided they are connected and that arbitrary one-qubit unitaries are available. We also discover and explore some surprising structure in many-body Hamiltonians that is associated with the parity of the couplings. A third related problem that is addressed is the question of what two-qubit unitaries are universal for quantum computation. This problem was originally solved by J.-L. and R. Brylinski [BB02], who gave a technical proof of the universality of any two-qudit gate that is not the swap gate or a product of one-qudit unitaries, given one-qudit unitaries as a free resource. We develop an elementary and constructive proof for the case of qubits, and prove that our construction is very close to optimal in the number of uses of the two-qubit gate. Given a qualitative understanding of what dynamical resources are universal for quantum computation, it is natural to consider developing a quantitative measure of the usefulness of quantum dynamics for quantum information processing. This is done in the final chapter of the thesis, in which the beginnings of a quantitative theory of quantum dynamics are developed.
Globally controlled superconducting qubit systems are regaining popularity due to their potential to solve one of the problems that most threatens the scalability of these platforms: the wiring problem. In fact, current quantum computers based on this technology rely on a local approach to qubit control, which, as the number of qubits increases, results in a cable density that interferes with the processor’s proper functioning. Adopting a global control approach makes it possible to reduce the number of cables and thus improve scalability. Since globally controlled architectures capable of universal quantum computation have already been proposed, the natural next step in the study of these platforms is the application of optimal control techniques. Indeed, given the global nature of the controls, optimization takes place across the entire system simultaneously, offering possibilities that would otherwise be unattainable with local control. The main objective of this work is to investigate these possible applications, focusing primarily on three aspects: digital quantum computation, quantum simulation, and the scalability of optimized pulses.
Using the methods for optimal simulation of quantum logic gates, we perform a quantitative estimation of the time resources involved in the execution of universal gate sets for the case of three representative models of quantum computation based on global control. The importance of such models stems from the solution to the problem of experimentally addressing and locally manipulating the qubits in a given quantum register. The numerical estimation of the temporal efficiency for each model is performed by assuming that the qubits in the register can be coupled to each other via the Ising and the Förster interactions. Finally, we discuss the feasibility of the physical realization of such architectures under quantum error correction conditions.
An interesting concept in quantum computation is that of global control (GC), where there is no need to manipulate qubits individually. One can implement a universal set of quantum gates on a one-dimensional array purely via signals that target the entire structure indiscriminately. But large-scale quantum computation imposes several requirements in terms of noise level, time, space (scaling) and in particular parallelism. Keeping in mind these requirements, we prove GC can support error-correction, by implementing two simple codes. This opens the way to fault-tolerant computation with this type of architecture.
We present a scheme to perform universal quantum computation using global control with an arbitrary subsystem dimension (not necessarily finite). The scheme is developed over a one spatial dimension N-element array, using only mirror-symmetric logical encoding, global pulses for single subsystem operations, uniform Ising-type interaction, and an all zero initial pure state. A mechanism using ancillary degrees of freedom for subsystem specific measurement is also presented.
Completely integrable Hamiltonian systems look promising for controllability since their first integrals are stable under an internal evolution, and one may hope to find a perturbation of a Hamiltonian which drives the first integrals at will. Action-angle coordinates are most convenient for this purpose. Written with respect to these coordinates, a Hamiltonian and first integrals depend only on the action ones. We introduce a suitable perturbation of a Hamiltonian by a term containing time-dependent parameters so that an evolution of action variables is nothing else than a displacement along a curve in a parameter space. Therefore, one can define this evolution in full by an appropriate choice of parameter functions. Similar holonomy controllability of finite level quantum systems is of special interes in connection with quantum computation. We provide geometric quantization of a time-dependent completely integrable Hamiltonian system in action-angle variables. Its Hamiltonian and first integrals have time-independent countable spectra. The holonomy control operator in this countable level quantum system is constructed.