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IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control

Time-Optimal Control of a Two Level Quantum System via Interaction With an Auxiliary System

Francesca Albertini, Domenico D’Alessandro

Published Apr 7, 2014• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We consider a two-level quantum system (quantum bit), S, which can only be controlled by modulating the difference between the two energy levels. We propose a control scheme that utilizes an additional quantum bit, A, as an auxiliary system, and obtains manipulation of S through the interaction with A. For this scheme, we derive the minimum time control for any unitary transformation on the target system S, and the form of the optimal control law. We find that the optimal time protocol involves a preliminary preparation of the state of A, the control of S using interaction with A, and no simultaneous control of S and A. The optimal time is the same as the one for a controllable two level system.

DOI
10.1109/tac.2014.2316029

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We consider a two-level quantum system (quantum bit), S, which can only be controlled by modulating the difference between the two energy levels. We propose a control scheme that utilizes an additional quantum bit, A, as an auxiliary system, and obtains manipulation of S through the interaction with A. For this scheme, we derive the minimum time control for any unitary transformation on the target system S, and the form of the optimal control law. We find that the optimal time protocol involves a preliminary preparation of the state of A, the control of S using interaction with A, and no simultaneous control of S and A. The optimal time is the same as the one for a controllable two level system.
We study the manipulation of two-level quantum systems. This research is motivated by the design of quantum mechanical logic gates which perform prescribed logic operations on a two-level quantum system, a quantum bit. We consider the problem of driving the evolution operator to a desired state, while minimizing the energy-type cost. Mathematically, this problem translates into an optimal control problem for systems varying on the Lie group of special unitary matrices, with cost that is quadratic in the control. We develop a comprehensive theory of optimal control for two-level quantum systems. In particular, we prove the 'normality' of the given problem and the 'regularity' of the optimal control functions. The impact of the results of the paper on nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and quantum computation is discussed.
Abstract In this paper we solve two equivalent time optimal control problems. On one hand, we design the control field to implement in minimum time the SWAP (or equivalent) operator on a two-level system, assuming that it interacts with an additional, uncontrollable, two-level system. On the other hand, we synthesize the SWAP operator simultaneously, in minimum time, on a pair of two-level systems subject to opposite drifts. We assume that it is possible to perform three independent control actions, and that the total control strength is bounded. These controls either affect the dynamics of the target system, under the first perspective, or, simultaneously, the dynamics of both systems, in the second view. We obtain our results by using techniques of geometric control theory on Lie groups. In particular, we apply the Pontryagin maximum principle, and provide a complete characterization of singular and nonsingular extremals. Our analysis shows that the problem can be formulated as the motion of a material point in a central force, a well known system in classical mechanics. Although we focus on obtaining the SWAP operator, many of the ideas and techniques developed in this work apply to the time optimal implementation of an arbitrary unitary operator.
We study the manipulation of two-level quantum systems. This research is motivated by the design of quantum mechanical logic gates which perform prescribed logic operations on a two-level quantum system, a quantum bit. We consider the problem of driving the evolution operator to a desired state, while minimizing an energy-type cost. Mathematically, this problem translates into an optimal control problem for systems varying on the Lie group of special unitary matrices of dimension two, with cost that is quadratic in the control. We develop a comprehensive theory of optimal control for two-level quantum systems. This includes, in particular, a classification of normal and abnormal extremals and a proof of regularity of the optimal control functions. The impact of the results of the paper on nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and quantum computation is discussed.
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.
In this paper, we explicitly explore how to manipulate single qubits by one-rotation controls under various manipulation conditions. It is revealed that one can construct control Hamiltonian and adjust the control to manipulate quantum states. Furthermore, we comprehensively discuss how to optimize control magnitude in terms of a new kind of weighted time-energy performance. A comparison has been made among the optimal performances under different manipulation conditions. Three concrete examples indicate the feasibility and efficiency of this approach on optimal control of two-level quantum systems.
In this paper, we solve the problem of simultaneously driving in minimum time to arbitrary final conditions, N two level quantum systems subject to independent controls. The solution of this problem is obtained via an explicit description of the reachable set of the associated control system on SU(2). The treatment generalizes previous results on the time optimal control of two level quantum systems and suggests that similar techniques could be used to solve the minimum time control problem for a larger class of right invariant systems on Lie groups.