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arXiv:2609.12048

Optimized quantum state transfer in a quasiperiodic ultracold atomic gas

Andreas Völkering, Arnob Kumar Ghosh, Patric Holmvall, Paolo Molignini

cond-mat.quant-gascond-mat.dis-nnquant-phSubmitted Sep 10, 2026• Announced Sep 14, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

Ultracold atomic systems offer a highly controllable platform for investigating quantum state transfer through the precise dynamical manipulation of system parameters. While quantized Thouless pumping has been extensively explored in these systems, adiabatic edge-to-edge transfer of localized quantum states remains largely unexplored. Here, we consider a one-dimensional ultracold atomic gas confined in a bichromatic optical lattice realizing a quasiperiodic Aubry--André--Harper system. We use its edge-localized winding states to implement quantum state transfer between opposite boundaries. Starting from the instantaneous spectral properties of the corresponding tight-binding model, we construct locally adiabatic protocols and extend the approach to higher protocol orders. We then simulate their dynamics under the full continuum bichromatic-lattice Hamiltonian. Our results reveal a tradeoff between edge localization and the minimum spectral gap: strongly localized states require longer transfer times, but can benefit substantially from higher protocol orders. We are also able to capture the main fidelity trends and coherent oscillations over a broad parameter regime using an effective two-level Landau--Zener description. Our results provide practical guidelines for selecting experimentally accessible parameters and tailoring quantum transfer protocols in quasiperiodic ultracold atomic systems.

Comments: 25 pages, 16 figures

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Ultracold atomic systems offer a highly controllable platform for investigating quantum state transfer through the precise dynamical manipulation of system parameters. While quantized Thouless pumping has been extensively explored in these systems, adiabatic edge-to-edge transfer of localized quantum states remains largely unexplored. Here, we consider a one-dimensional ultracold atomic gas confined in a bichromatic optical lattice realizing a quasiperiodic Aubry--André--Harper system. We use its edge-localized winding states to implement quantum state transfer between opposite boundaries. Starting from the instantaneous spectral properties of the corresponding tight-binding model, we construct locally adiabatic protocols and extend the approach to higher protocol orders. We then simulate their dynamics under the full continuum bichromatic-lattice Hamiltonian. Our results reveal a tradeoff between edge localization and the minimum spectral gap: strongly localized states require longer transfer times, but can benefit substantially from higher protocol orders. We are also able to capture the main fidelity trends and coherent oscillations over a broad parameter regime using an effective two-level Landau--Zener description. Our results provide practical guidelines for selecting experimentally accessible parameters and tailoring quantum transfer protocols in quasiperiodic ultracold atomic systems.

We investigate the localization transition in a one-dimensional extended Aubry–André–Harper (AAH) model, emphasizing its implementation as a quantum simulator in ultracold atomic optical lattices. In the single-particle case, quasi-periodic hopping modulation allows the localization transition point to be clearly observed even for small system sizes. By driving the system into strongly Anderson localized states immediately after the transition, we observe a sharp many-body localization (MBL) transition upon introducing interactions, with the MBL transition point closely approaching that of Anderson localization. To demonstrate the effects of interactions, we map out a global phase diagram and find that critical states in this model are easily thermalized. Contrary to previous studies where enhanced interactions significantly promoted thermalization, we find that increasing interactions does not notably shift the MBL transition point. Importantly, our setup offers a practical and experimentally accessible platform for studying sharp MBL transitions using ultracold atoms in optical lattices, bridging MBL physics with advances in quantum optics and cold-atom technologies.

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We propose an experimental scheme to simulate and detect the properties of time-reversal invariant topological insulators, using cold atoms trapped in one-dimensional bichromatic optical lattices. This system is described by a one-dimensional Aubry-Andre model with an additional SU(2) gauge structure, which captures the essential properties of a two-dimensional

{Z}_{2}

topological insulator. We demonstrate that topologically protected edge states, with opposite spin orientations, can be pumped across the lattice by sweeping a laser phase adiabatically. This process is an elegant way to transfer topologically protected quantum states in a highly controllable environment. We discuss how density measurements could provide clear signatures of the topological phases emanating from our one-dimensional system.

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The need for fast and robust quantum state transfer is an essential element in scalable quantum information processing, leading to widespread interest in shortcuts to adiabaticity for speeding up adiabatic quantum protocols. However, shortcuts to adiabaticity for systems with more than a few levels is occasionally challenging to compute in theory and frequently difficult to implement in experiments. In this paper, we develop a protocol for constructing shortcuts to adiabaticity through the multistate Landau-Zener approach and a stricter adiabatic condition. Importantly, our protocol only requires a few pieces of information about the energy spectrum and just adjusts the evolutionary rate of the system. It means that our protocol has broad applicability to theoretical models and does not require increasing the difficulty of the experiment. As examples, we apply our protocol to state transfer in the two-level Landau-Zener model, the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, and the topological Thouless pump model and find that it can speed up the manipulation speed while remaining robust to Hamiltonian errors. Furthermore, based on the experimental friendliness of our findings, it can potentially be extended to many-body systems, dissipation cases, or Floquet processes. Overall, the proposed shortcut protocol offers a promising avenue for enhancing the efficiency and reliability of quantum state transfer protocols.

We present experimental results on the preparation of a desired quantum state in a two-level system with the maximum possible fidelity using driving protocols ranging from generalizations of the linear Landau-Zener protocol to transitionless driving protocols that ensure perfect following of the instantaneous adiabatic ground state. We also study the minimum time needed to achieve a target fidelity and explore and compare the robustness of some of the protocols against parameter variations simulating a possible experimental uncertainty. In our experiments, we realize a two-level model system using Bose-Einstein condensates inside optical lattices, but the results of our investigation should hold for any quantum system that can be approximated by a two-level system.