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arXiv:2312.16744 · Physical Review A

Minimum-time generation of a uniform superposition in a qubit with only transverse field control

Vasileios Evangelakos, Emmanuel Paspalakis, Dionisis Stefanatos

Published Dec 26, 2023• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider a two-level system with a fixed energy spacing (detuning) between the two levels and a single transverse control field which can take values between zero and a maximum amplitude. Using Pontryagin's maximum principle, we completely solve the problem of generating in minimum time a uniform superposition of the two quantum states when starting from one of them, for all the values of the ratio between the maximum control amplitude and the detuning. For each value of this ratio we find the optimal pulse sequence to have the bang-bang form and calculate the durations of the pulses composing it. The suggested framework is not only restricted to the problem at hand, but it can be also exploited in the problem of fast charging a quantum battery based on a two-level system, as well as for the optimization of pulse sequences used for the controlled preparation of the excited state in a quantum emitter, which is a prerequisite for its usage as a single-photon source.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.062425

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We consider a two-level system with a fixed energy spacing (detuning) between the two levels and a single transverse control field which can take values between zero and a maximum amplitude. Using Pontryagin's maximum principle, we completely solve the problem of generating in minimum time a uniform superposition of the two quantum states when starting from one of them, for all the values of the ratio between the maximum control amplitude and the detuning. For each value of this ratio we find the optimal pulse sequence to have the bang-bang form and calculate the durations of the pulses composing it. The suggested framework is not only restricted to the problem at hand, but it can be also exploited in the problem of fast charging a quantum battery based on a two-level system, as well as for the optimization of pulse sequences used for the controlled preparation of the excited state in a quantum emitter, which is a prerequisite for its usage as a single-photon source.
We consider the problem of maximizing the stored energy for a given charging duration in a quantum battery composed of a pair of spins-1/21/21/2 with Ising coupling starting from the spin-down state, using bounded transverse field control. We map this problem to an optimal control problem on a single qubit and by using optimal control theory we show that, although a single bang pulse can quickly achieve considerable charging levels for relatively large upper control bounds, higher levels of stored energy including complete charging are accomplished by a bang-singular-bang pulse sequence, where the intermediate singular pulse is an off pulse. If the control is restricted between zero and a maximum value, the initial and final bang pulses attain the maximum bound but have different durations, while if it is restricted between symmetric negative and positive boundaries, the bang pulses have the same duration but opposite boundary values. For both cases we provide transcendental equations from which the durations of the individual pulses in the optimal pulse-sequence can be calculated. For the case of full charging we surprisingly find that the three ``switching'' functions for the equivalent qubit problem become zero while the adjoint ket does not, consistent with optimal control theory.
Abstract We consider a quantum battery (QB) composed of a pair of qubits coupled with an Ising interaction in the usual NMR framework, where the longitudinal applied field is constant and the time-dependent variables controlling the system are the amplitude and phase of the transverse field, and use optimal control to derive fast charging protocols. We study both the cases where the Ising coupling is weaker and stronger than the longitudinal field. In the first case, where the lowest-energy state of the system is the spin-down state, the optimal charging protocol stipulates the transverse field amplitude to be constant and equal to its maximum allowed value, while the minimum time for full charging of the battery tends to zero as this maximum bound increases. In the second case, where the lowest-energy state is a maximally entangled Bell state, the optimal charging protocol includes a time interval where the transverse field amplitude is zero and its phase is immaterial, corresponding to singular control. In this case, the QB can be charged with higher levels of stored energy, while the minimum time for full charging tends to a nonzero limit proportional to the inverse Ising interaction, as the maximum bound of the control amplitude increases. We analyze intuitively and quantitatively the distinct behavior of the two cases and additionally use the dynamical Lie algebra of the system to elucidate the presence of a singular arc in the optimal pulse-sequence in the second case. The discovered interplay between the QB parameters, the stored energy and the minimum time for full charging, provides great flexibility for optimizing the performance of the device according to the operating constraints. The valuable insights gained regarding the design of QBs is expected to find immediate applications in modern quantum science and technology, while we aim to extend the proposed methods to larger spin chains.
Abstract In this article we propose a novel method to accelerate adiabatic passage in a two-level system with only longitudinal field (detuning) control, while the transverse field is kept constant. The suggested method is a modification of the Roland–Cerf protocol, during which the parameter quantifying local adiabaticity is held constant. Here, we show that with a simple ‘on–off’ modulation of this local adiabaticity parameter, a perfect adiabatic passage can be obtained for every duration larger than the lower bound , where is the constant transverse field. For a fixed maximum amplitude of the local adiabaticity parameter, the timings of the ‘on–off’ pulse-sequence which achieves perfect fidelity in minimum time are obtained using optimal control theory. The corresponding detuning control is continuous and monotonic, a significant advantage compared to the detuning variation at the quantum speed limit which includes non-monotonic jumps. The proposed methodology can be applied in several important core tasks in quantum computing, for example to the design of a high fidelity controlled-phase gate, which can be mapped to the adiabatic quantum control of such a qubit. Additionally, it is expected to find applications across all physics disciplines which exploit the adiabatic control of such a two-level system.
We determine the optimal quantum manipulation protocols for implementing high-fidelity, fast single-qubit gates. We demonstrate that the time-optimal pulse sequence is a ``bang-bang'' sequence: discrete pulses of either positive or negative maximum amplitude or zero. The non-adiabatic bang-bang pulse sequence minimizes gate duration providing a speedup for low-frequency architectures. We first derive the protocol for a transversally driven two-level system, extracting exact analytic expressions for minimum gate times. We then extend this framework to general multilevel architectures, identifying conditions that enable the coherent suppression of leakage errors. Using the fluxonium circuit as a representative case study, we optimize X/2X/2X/2 and Y/2Y/2Y/2 gates through a combination of discrete bang sequences and continuous waveform smoothing. This approach preserves near-optimal execution speeds while mitigating transitions outside the computational subspace. Open-system simulations demonstrate that these sequences outperform commensurate and resonant pulse schemes across different fluxonium regimes, achieving low-error manipulation significantly faster than standard resonant control, even in the presence of 1/f1/f1/f flux noise and dissipation.
In this paper we consider the minimum time population transfer problem for a two level quantum system driven by two external fields with bounded amplitude. After projection on the so-called Bloch sphere, we tackle the problem with well-developed techniques of optimal synthesis on 2-D manifolds. Based on the Pontryagin Maximum Principle, we characterize a restricted set of candidate optimal trajectories. Properties on this set, crucial for a complete optimal synthesis, are illustrated by numerical simulations.
Optimal control theory is applied to analyze the time-optimal solution with a single scalar control knob in a two-level quantum system without quantum decoherence. Emphasis is placed on the dependence on the maximum control strength umax{u}_{\text{max}}umax​. General constraints on the optimal protocol are derived and used to rigorously parametrize the time-optimal solution. Two concrete problems are investigated. For generic state preparation problems, both multiple bang-bang and bang-singular-bang are legitimate and should be considered. Generally, the optimal is bang-bang for small umax{u}_{\text{max}}umax​, and there exists a state-dependent critical amplitude above which singular control emerges. For the X-gate operation of a qubit, the optimal protocol is exclusively multiple bang-bang. The minimum gate time is about 80% of that based on the resonant Rabi $\ensuremath{\pi}$-pulse over a wide range of control strength; in the ${u}_{\text{max}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ limit, this ratio is derived to be $\ensuremath{\pi}/4$. To develop practically feasible protocols, we present methods to smooth the abrupt changes in the bang-bang control while preserving perfect gate fidelity. The presence of bang-bang segments in the time-optimal protocol indicates that the high-frequency components and a full calculation (instead of the commonly adopted rotating wave approximation) are essential for the ultimate quantum speed limit.