An exact analytic solution to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is presented for a two-state quantum system coherently driven by a nonresonant pulsed external field. The pulse has a hyperbolic-secant shape, with a sign jump (i.e. a phase step of π) at its maximum, which nullifies the overall pulse area. It is shown that off resonance, for detunings larger than the pulse bandwidth, the transition probability approaches unity as the field intensity increases. The population inversion is robust against small-to-moderate variations in the detuning and the intensity, a feature reminiscent of adiabatic passage. The population inversion, however, is not of adiabatic nature; it is induced by δ-function-shaped nonadiabatic coupling with an area of nearly π. An estimate of the required experimental resources shows that implementation with shaped femtosecond pulses is feasible.
An exact analytic solution to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is presented for a two-state quantum system coherently driven by a nonresonant pulsed external field. The pulse has a hyperbolic-secant shape, with a sign jump (i.e. a phase step of π) at its maximum, which nullifies the overall pulse area. It is shown that off resonance, for detunings larger than the pulse bandwidth, the transition probability approaches unity as the field intensity increases. The population inversion is robust against small-to-moderate variations in the detuning and the intensity, a feature reminiscent of adiabatic passage. The population inversion, however, is not of adiabatic nature; it is induced by δ-function-shaped nonadiabatic coupling with an area of nearly π. An estimate of the required experimental resources shows that implementation with shaped femtosecond pulses is feasible.
We present an analytically exactly soluble two-state model, in which a hyperbolic-secant-shaped pulsed interaction has a phase jump of $\ensuremath{\phi}$ at the time of its maximum. The detuning has a constant part and a hyperbolic-tangent chirp term. For $\ensuremath{\phi}=0$, this model reduces to the Demkov-Kunike model, which in turn contains as particular cases three other well-known models: the Rosen-Zener, Allen-Eberly, and Bambini-Berman models. A nonzero $\ensuremath{\phi}$ induces dramatic changes in the transition probability, ranging from complete population inversion to complete population return. The analytic results are particularly instructive in the adiabatic limit and demonstrate that complete population inversion can always occur for a suitable choice of $\ensuremath{\phi}$. The jump phase $\ensuremath{\phi}$ can therefore be used as a control parameter for the two-state transition probability.
A zero-area pulse produces no excitation in a two-state quantum system on exact resonance. We show analytically and numerically that off resonance the transition probability may acquire significant values, and as the Rabi frequency increases, it approaches steadily unity, a feature reminiscent of adiabatic passage. The nature of the transition is not, however, of adiabatic nature. We show that complete population transfer occurs as a result of a quasiresonant transition between the adiabatic states due to a $\ensuremath{\delta}$-function-type interaction with an area of $\ensuremath{\pi}$.
We propose and analyze a robust population-transfer protocol in a driven two-level system based on a sudden sign change of the detuning at the maximum of a smooth coupling pulse. Away from the jump the dynamics is adiabatic, while the sign flip produces a single nonadiabatic kick in the adiabatic basis. Within a simple stepwise adiabatic-sudden approximation we obtain a compact analytic expression for the final transition probability, identify the parameter regimes that yield high-fidelity inversion, and show that the result depends only on the change of the mixing angle across the detuning jump, i.e., solely on the ratio of the peak Rabi frequency to the detuning. Numerical simulations of the full time-dependent Schrödinger equation confirm the validity and robustness of this description over a broad parameter range.
We then use the Majorana decomposition to extend the scheme to an SU(2)-symmetric three-state chain driven by the same coupling and detuning functions. In this setting the three-state propagator is expressed in closed form through the two-level Cayley-Klein parameters, which allows us to derive explicit transition probabilities for all three initial states. In particular, we show that for strong coupling the protocol yields almost complete population transfer between the two outer states, with only small transient population of the middle state, while retaining the same intrinsic robustness as in the underlying two-level model.
Population inversion from an initial quantum state to a desired quantum state represents an exciting new frontier for quantum manipulation; that frontier is endowed with a strong interdisciplinary character and connections to other scientific fields, including atomic, molecular, and optical physics, as well as in solid-state devices, for fundamental studies, nuclear magnetic resonance and other spectroscopic techniques, metrology, interferometry, optical control of chemical reactions or quantum-information applications. Two-level systems are ubiquitous in these areas, and the driving of a population inversion is an important operation. So far various schemes for population transfer to a target state from an initial state have been proposed in theory and implemented in experiment. To be useful, such methods must, of course, be reliable, fast, and robust. Most literatures on two-level models investigated population inversion, which could be modelled by infinite-time processes. In this paper, by using a composite adiabatic passage (CAP) technique—in which the single pulse driving the quantum transition is replaced by a sequence of pulses with well-defined control phases, we investigate the population inversion problem of two-level quantum system with a finite duration. We take a sinusoidally varying pulse model that continuously vanishes at the beginning and the end of the finite duration as an example. The high-fidelity population inversion of the two-level system with finite duration is achieved. We discuss the effects of both coupling strength and detuning strength on the transition probability. It is found that this protocol could suppress the oscillations in the transition probability and reduce the admissible error bellow the 10 -4 quantum computation benchmark. The fidelity can arrive at 1, even with simple three- and five-composite pulse sequences. The protocol combines the advantages of adiabatic passage and composite pulses techniques. By choosing the composite phases appropriately, a high-fidelity, fast, stable and extremely robust complete population inversion is achieved for the finite-time two-level model. The values of the composite phases are universal for they do not depend on the pulse shapes and the chirp as long as the latter satisfy the symmetry property. Furthermore, the classical Hamiltonian is applied to describe the dynamic properties of the quantum system and further verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed CAP technique. The results we present here are general and in principle apply to any two- and multi-level quantum systems. The accuracy of the CAP technique and its robustness against parameter variations make the protocol suitable for ultrahigh-fidelity quantum manipulation. We believe that the protocol can be widely used in many different areas of science, ranging from the quantum information, the quantum chemical, and the quantum optics to the ultracold atomic and molecular physics.
This thesis discusses different aspects of time-dependent two-level quantum systems and their coherent dynamics. In the introductory chapters, we present some basic models used to study them and some basic results related to the level-crossing problems generally. As these systems are only rarely analytically solvable, some emphasis is put on the existing approximative theories. In particular, the generalization of the method of Dykhne, Davis and Pechukas (DDP), originally developed for problems in near-adiabatic region, is studied further. In the DDP theory, the final populations of different states are determined by the complex zero points of the eigenenergies. Superparabolic level-crossing models are introduced in this thesis and they prove to be simple but versatile test models for these studies. It is shown that, by considering all of the zero points, one can obtain accurate approximations also for highly non-adiabatic regions. In Chapter 4, a general differential geometric framework for time-dependent level-crossing models is developed and its basic character is discussed. A natural way of associating a plane curve to a time-dependent two-level model is introduced. This association allows one to use all of the mathematical results concerning plane curves to study these models. As an example, we use the Four-vertex theorem to discuss the adiabatic limit of certain type of systems. We also consider the prospect of enhancing the population transfer by transforming the time-dependent coupling pulse into a zero-area coupling. This is done either smoothly or by an abrupt jump in the phase of the coupling. It has been shown earlier, that one can obtain a complete population inversion (CPI) in a robust way with strong, non-resonant zero-area pulses. We study this in the more general time-dependent setting in Chapter 5, where also the energy levels are driven in a time-dependent fashion. This allows to transport the CPI phenomenon from the strong coupling region towards more moderate couplings. As an example of the smooth case, we consider the SechTanh-model, and show that even the nearest-zero DDP approximation can be used, despite the highly non-adiabatic origin of the phenomenon. We develop an approximative scheme also for the phase-jump case, using the parabolic model as an example. As a limiting case, we derive an approximative formula for the transition probability, which has some universal character and which proves to be useful in the most interesting case where the robust CPI is obtained. It is shown that even the highly suppressed transitions in tunnelling cases can be strongly enhanced in the phase-jump scenario.