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arXiv:2205.04080 · Annual Reviews in Control

Linear quantum systems: A tutorial

Guofeng Zhang, Zhiyuan Dong

Published Jan 1, 2022• 41 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The purpose of this tutorial is to give a brief introduction to linear quantum control systems. The mathematical model of linear quantum control systems is presented first, then some fundamental control-theoretic notions such as stability, controllability and observability are given, which are closely related to several important concepts in quantum information science such as decoherence-free subsystems, quantum non-demolition variables, and back-action evasion measurements. After that, quantum Gaussian states are introduced, in particular, an information-theoretic uncertainty relation is presented which often gives a better bound for mixed Gaussian states than the well-known Heisenberg uncertainty relation. The quantum Kalman filter is presented for quantum linear systems, which is the quantum analogy of the Kalman filter for classical (namely, non-quantum-mechanical) linear systems. The quantum Kalman canonical decomposition for quantum linear systems is recorded, and its application is illustrated by means of a recent experiment. As single- and multi-photon states are useful resources in quantum information technology, the response of quantum linear systems to these types of input is presented. Finally, coherent feedback control of quantum linear systems is briefly introduced, and a recent experiment is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of quantum linear systems and networks theory.

DOI
10.1016/j.arcontrol.2022.04.013

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The purpose of this tutorial is to give a brief introduction to linear quantum control systems. The mathematical model of linear quantum control systems is presented first, then some fundamental control-theoretic notions such as stability, controllability and observability are given, which are closely related to several important concepts in quantum information science such as decoherence-free subsystems, quantum non-demolition variables, and back-action evasion measurements. After that, quantum Gaussian states are introduced, in particular, an information-theoretic uncertainty relation is presented which often gives a better bound for mixed Gaussian states than the well-known Heisenberg uncertainty relation. The quantum Kalman filter is presented for quantum linear systems, which is the quantum analogy of the Kalman filter for classical (namely, non-quantum-mechanical) linear systems. The quantum Kalman canonical decomposition for quantum linear systems is recorded, and its application is illustrated by means of a recent experiment. As single- and multi-photon states are useful resources in quantum information technology, the response of quantum linear systems to these types of input is presented. Finally, coherent feedback control of quantum linear systems is briefly introduced, and a recent experiment is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of quantum linear systems and networks theory.
This paper studies the Kalman decomposition for linear quantum systems. Contrary to the classical case, the coordinate transformation used for the decomposition must belong to a specific class of transformations as a consequence of the laws of quantum mechanics. We propose a construction method for such transformations that put the system in a Kalman canonical form. Furthermore, we uncover an interesting structure for the obtained decomposition. In the case of passive systems, it is shown that there exist only controllable/observable and uncontrollable/unobservable subsystems. In the general case, controllable/unobservable and uncontrollable/observable subsystems may also be present, but their respective system variables must be conjugate variables of each other. This decomposition naturally exposes decoherence-free modes, quantum-nondemolition modes, quantum-mechanics-free subsystems, and back-action evasion measurements in the quantum system, which are useful resources for quantum information processing, and quantum measurements. The theory developed is applied to physical examples.
This paper provides a tutorial introduction to quantum feedback control. The paper begins with a discussion of various types of quantum control, and a summary of some relevant aspects of quantum mechanics. We then consider quantum filtering and measurement feedback optimal control for a two-level quantum system. Finally we discuss linear quantum systems, and two types of quantum LQG optimal control problems, one involving measurement, the other fully coherent. We conclude with some remarks about future research directions.
The purpose of this paper is to characterize the structure of quantum linear systems. By means of a scattering representation, a relation between two systems GGG and Σ\SigmaΣ is established, by which we show that GGG is lossless bounded real if and only if Σ\SigmaΣ is lossless positive real. When GGG is a quantum linear system, we show that its fundamental symplectic structure and physical realizability conditions can be expressed in a simpler way in terms of Σ\SigmaΣ. Furthermore, when GGG is a passive quantum linear system, we show that its uncontrollable subspace and unobservable subspace are identical and they are spanned by the eigenvectors of the AAA matrix of GGG, whose corresponding eigenvalues are all on the imaginary axis. For the nonpassive case, several sufficient conditions are given. Finally, in terms of controllability and observability, the problem of quantum linear system decomposition is investigated. In particular, a quantum Kalman decomposition is proposed. This canonical decomposition naturally exposes decoherence-free modes and quantum non-demolished modes, which are useful resources for quantum information science.
Abstract : The proposed work attempted to establish a theoretical framework for the analysis and control of quantum linear systems and their interactions with non-classical quantum fields by developing control theoretic concepts exploiting special features of quantum systems. The research aimed to continue developing a new mathematical framework for robust control of quantum linear systems and extend results to quantum linear systems subject to non-classical quantum fields. The major outcomes of this project are (i) derivation of quantum filtering equations for systems non-classical input states including single photon states, (ii) determination of how linear quantum systems respond to multichannel non-classical states, (iii) linear quantum models for quantum memories and the zero dynamics principle for perfect information transfer, (iv) development of new structured uncertainty methods that ensure robust stability of quantum systems based on nominal linear models, and (v) physical realizability results for finite level quantum systems.
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.
Entanglement, a defining property of quantum mechanics in which two physical subsystems cannot be seen as independent entities, challenges our everyday experience and classical intuition. However, only such strong quantum correlations enable quantum technologies, including quantum computing or communication, while revealing the limits of our classical worldview by violating local realism. Given its importance in modern quantum science, we present this tutorial addressing the questions: What is entanglement, how does it differ from classical correlations, and how can it be experimentally verified? Using celebrated examples, such as Schrödinger's cat, we highlight the distinction between classical and quantum correlations and illustrate the definition of entangled and separable states. We review entanglement criteria by discussing Heisenberg-type uncertainty relations for continuous variables and the CHSH inequality for discrete systems. Focusing on concepts of quantum correlations and operational entanglement witnesses, we provide accessible tools and illustrative examples aimed at demystifying entanglement for a broad readership.