Networks of open quantum systems with feedback have become an active area of research for applications such as quantum control, quantum communication and coherent information processing. A canonical formalism for the interconnection of open quantum systems using quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs) has been developed by Gough, James and co-workers and has been used to develop practical modeling approaches for complex quantum optical, microwave and optomechanical circuits/networks. In this paper we fill a significant gap in existing methodology by showing how trapped modes resulting from feedback via coupled channels with finite propagation delays can be identified systematically in a given passive linear network. Our method is based on the Blaschke-Potapov multiplicative factorization theorem for inner matrix-valued functions, which has been applied in the past to analog electronic networks. Our results provide a basis for extending the Quantum Hardware Description Language (QHDL) framework for automated quantum network model construction (Tezak et al. in Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 370(1979):5270-5290, 2012 ) to efficiently treat scenarios in which each interconnection of components has an associated signal propagation time delay.
Networks of open quantum systems with feedback have become an active area of research for applications such as quantum control, quantum communication and coherent information processing. A canonical formalism for the interconnection of open quantum systems using quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs) has been developed by Gough, James and co-workers and has been used to develop practical modeling approaches for complex quantum optical, microwave and optomechanical circuits/networks. In this paper we fill a significant gap in existing methodology by showing how trapped modes resulting from feedback via coupled channels with finite propagation delays can be identified systematically in a given passive linear network. Our method is based on the Blaschke-Potapov multiplicative factorization theorem for inner matrix-valued functions, which has been applied in the past to analog electronic networks. Our results provide a basis for extending the Quantum Hardware Description Language (QHDL) framework for automated quantum network model construction (Tezak et al. in Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A, Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 370(1979):5270-5290, 2012 ) to efficiently treat scenarios in which each interconnection of components has an associated signal propagation time delay.
This thesis makes some theoretical contributions towards mixed quantum feedback network synthesis, quantum optical realization of classical linear stochastic systems and quantum feedback control designs. A mixed quantum-classical feedback network is an interconnected system consisting of a quantum system and a classical system connected by interfaces that convert quantum signals to classical signal (using homodyne detectors), and vice versa (using electro-optic modulators). In the area of mixed quantum-classical feedback networks, we present a network synthesis theory, which provides a natural framework for analysis and design for mixed linear systems. Physical realizability conditions are derived for linear stochastic differential equations to ensure that mixed systems can correspond to physical systems. The mixed network synthesis theory developed based on physical realizability conditions shows that how a classical of mixed quantum-classical systems described by linear stochastic differential equations can be built as a interconnection of linear quantum systems and linear classical systems using quantum optical devices as well as electrical and electric devices. However, an important practical problem for the implementation of mixed quantum-classical systems is the relatively slow speed of classical parts implemented with standard electrical and electronic devices, since a mixed system will not work correctly unless the electronic processing of classical devices is fast enough. Therefore, another interesting work is to show how classical linear stochastic systems build using electrical and electric devices can be physically implemented using quantum optical components. A complete procedure is proposed for a stable quantum linear stochastic system realizing a given stable classical linear stochastic system. The thesis explains how it may be possible to realize certain measurement feedback loops fully at the quantum level. In the area of quantum feedback control design, two numerical procedures based on extended linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach are proposed to design a coherent quantum controller in this thesis. The extended synthesis linear matrix inequalities are, in addition to new analysis tools, less conservative in comparison to the conventional counterparts since the optimization variables related to the system parameters in extended LMIs are independent of the symmetric Lyapunov matrix. These features may be useful in the optimal design of quantum optical networks. Time delays are frequently encountered in linear quantum feedback control systems such as long transmission lines between quantum plants and linear controllers, which may have an effect on the performance of closed-loop plant controller systems. Therefore, this thesis investigates the problem of linear quantum measurement-based feedback control systems subject to feedback-loop time delay described by linear stochastic differential equations. Several numerical procedures are proposed to design classical controllers that make quantum measurement-based feedback control systems with time delay stable and also guarantee that their desired control performance specifications are satisfied.
Quantum feedback networks with non-negligible propagation delays in the interconnecting edges have recently gained attention. Grimsmo has analysed the evolution of a Markov quantum system coupled to a single field via a doublepass interaction with a time delay and derived the evolution equation for the state (density operator) of the system (after tracing out the field) using a super-operator notion of partial tracing together with a tensor network representation. However, for the purposes of feedback control (both measurement-based and coherent feedback), the propagating output fields of the system can be used to facilitate feedback interconnections. Thus it is desirable to have an equivalent input-output description of quantum systems that incorporates time delays, without tracing out the field. Here, we first extend the analysis to the setting of a single system coupled to optical fields in multiple channels with a feedback structure in which the fields makes infinite repeated interactions with the system. Then we generalise this to the setting of quantum feedback networks with both instantaneous interconnections and uniform time delays in the interconnection.
In the last decade, there has been a growing interest in the integration of photonic components into VLSI circuits that in the long term may drive the need for systematic mixed electronic-photonic circuit design methods. On the other hand, theoretical and experimental investigations of coherent-feedback quantum control, the feedback control of a quantum system with another quantum system, have led to the development of a network synthesis theory for linear quantum stochastic models that are commonly employed in (linear) quantum optics, modelling such devices as optical cavities and optical parametric amplifiers. This paper makes theoretical contributions towards connecting these two independent developments, and anticipates potential future interest in systematic design methods for mixed linear electronic-photonic circuits, by establishing a network synthesis theory for linear stochastic systems with mixed quantum and classical degrees of freedom. It is shown how a physically realizable mixed quantum-classical linear stochastic system can be realized as a circuit composed of a feedback interconnection of a fully quantum linear subsystem, that can be implemented by quantum optical devices, and a classical linear sub-system, that can be implemented with standard electrical and electronic devices, together with appropriate interfaces that convert quantum signals to classical signals, and vice-versa. Two feedback architectures are proposed, and a decomposition lemma is derived that shows the structure of linear transformations of bosonic quantum signals into classical signals.
We consider the transfer functions describing the input-output relation for a class of linear open quantum systems involving feedback with nonzero time delays. We show how such transfer functions can be factorized into a product of terms which are transfer functions of canonical physically realizable components. We prove under certain conditions that this product converges, and can be approximated on compact sets. Thus our factorization can be interpreted as a (possibly infinite) cascade. Our result extends past work where linear open quantum systems with a state-space realization have been shown to have a pure cascade realization [Nurdin, H. I., Grivopoulos, S., & Petersen, I. R. (2016). The transfer function of generic linear quantum stochastic systems has a pure cascade realization. Automatica, 69, 324-333.]. The functions we consider are inherently non-Markovian, which is why in our case the resulting product may have infinitely many terms.
Quantum engineering has seen rapid growth in the past two decades. Physicists, mathematicians and engineers have been working in unison to control a number of diverse systems in the quantum regime. Quantum control involving feedback has become particularly topical, as using information gained from a system can lead to more stable operation of a control protocol. Quantum feedback can be split into two paradigms: measurement based feedback and coherent feedback. Although it is increasingly evident that retaining the coherence of the feedback signal provides an intrinsic advantage over measurement-based feedback, coherent feedback is still a new paradigm. In particular, there are a limited number of options for coherently estimating a state within a feedback loop. As a step towards better understanding and implementation of quantum feedback, this thesis reports on modelling, estimation and control of quantum systems. The first topic is physical realisability of a variety of quantum systems, especially finite level systems and their outgrowths. Bilinear quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs) have to be employed to characterise these systems, which is a significant complement to the previous work on linear QSDEs. In light of the fact that direct and indirect couplings play a vital role in quantum network and control, we also provide state-space models for different classes of coupled open quantum systems incorporating both bidirectional and directional interactions. The second topic is coherent observers and optimal filtering. It is well established that classically estimation using the Kalman filter can provide improved performance over direct feedback schemes, and similar demonstrations have been performed for measurement-based quantum feedback. In this thesis I present coherent observers, including least mean squares estimators, which are driven by the coherent output of a specified quantum plant and designed such that some subset of the observer and plant's expectation values converge in the asymptotic limit. Not only can estimators "observe" mean quantities of quantum plant, but also they can "estimate" quantum correlations such as entanglement. This is of much importance to coherent feedback design in the absence of measurement steps without loss of fidelity. Last but not least, several topics regarding stabilisation and control design of quantum systems are discussed in my thesis. To be specific, tools for quantum stability analysis (e.g. Lyapunov conditions) are provided. Both measurement-based feedback and coherent feedback control design are taken into account. A measurement-based optimal controller for opto-mechanical systems aimed at synchronising different mechanical modes is presented, which is application-oriented. Moreover, A general observer-based coherent feedback control framework is studied, and I demonstrate a pole-placement approach via coherent observers that can be applied to various scenarios.
This paper is concerned with the analysis of linear quantum optical networks. It provides a systematic approach to the construction a model for a given quantum network in terms of a system of quantum stochastic differential equations. This corresponds to a classical state space model. The linear quantum optical networks under consideration consist of interconnections between optical cavities, optical squeezers, and beamsplitters. These models can then be used in the design of quantum feedback control systems for these networks.