Reachable sets for two-level open quantum systems driven by coherent and incoherent controls

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we study controllability in the set of all density matrices for a two-level open quantum system driven by coherent and incoherent controls. In Pechen (2011 Phys. Rev. A 84 042106) an approximate controllability, i.e. controllability with some precision, was shown for generic N -level open quantum systems driven by coherent and incoherent controls. However, the explicit formulation of this property, including the behavior of this precision as a function of transition frequencies and decoherence rates of the system, was not known. The present work provides a rigorous analytical study of reachable sets for two-level open quantum systems. First, it is shown that for N = 2 the presence of incoherent control does not affect the reachable set (while incoherent control may affect the time necessary to reach particular state). Second, the reachable set in the Bloch ball is described and it is shown that already just for one coherent control any point in the Bloch ball can be achieved with precision δ ∼ γ / ω , where γ is the decoherence rate and ω is the transition frequency. Typical values are δ ≲ 10 −3 that implies high accuracy of achieving any density matrix. Moreover, we show that most points in the Bloch ball can be exactly reached, except of two lacunae of size ∼ δ . For two coherent controls, the system is shown to be completely controllable in the set of all density matrices. Third, the reachable set as a function of the final time is found and shown to exhibit a non-trivial structure.