Improving Quantum Gate Performance using Optimal Control with Feedback

Flemming Holtorf, Frank Schäfer, Julian Arnold +2 more

The limits of quantum feedback control have immediate consequences for quantum information science at large, yet remain largely unexplored. Here, we combine quantum filtering theory and moment-sum-of-squares techniques to construct a hierarchy of convex optimization problems that furnish monotonically improving, computable bounds on the best attainable performance for a broad class of quantum feedback control problems. These bounds may serve as witnesses of fundamental limitations, optimality certificates, or performance targets. We prove convergence of the bounds to the optimal control performance under technical conditions and demonstrate the practical utility of our approach by designing certifiably near-optimal controllers for a qubit in a cavity subjected to photon counting and homodyne detection measurements.

Hyeong-Jin Kim

Sonia G. Schirmer

Dominic Messina, Alicia B. Magann, Mohan Sarovar +1 more

We introduce a new hybrid quantum-classical algorithm inspired by an advanced control strategy known as model predictive control (MPC). This algorithm unifies the optimization-based design of variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) with the feedback-based design of feedback-based quantum algorithms (FQAs). Variational circuit parameters are optimized using a layer-wise receding horizon strategy, where observable measurements after every layer initialize a classically simulated dynamic model used to predict quantum state evolution and optimize over future parameterized gates. This hybrid algorithm can be used for applications such as ground state preparation and approximate combinatorial optimization, and presents an ideal use case for the integration of quantum computers with high-performance computing, where the latter resource can be used to increase the scale and efficiency of the predictions critical to MPC. We show through mathematical proof and numerical evidence that the MPC-based algorithm can be guaranteed to at least match the performance of FQAs. Through simulations on Max-Cut problems and a two-dimensional transverse-field Ising model, we demonstrate that relaxed implementations of the MPC-based algorithm can also provide improved performance in practice compared to an FQA.

Shuangshuang Fu, Guodong Shi, Alexandre Proutière +1 more

In this paper, we propose feedback designs for manipulating a quantum state to a target state by performing sequential measurements. In light of Belavkin's quantum feedback control theory, for a given set of (projective or non-projective) measurements and a given time horizon, we show that finding the measurement selection policy that maximizes the successful manipulation is an optimal control problem for a controlled Markovian process. The optimal policy is Markovian and can be solved by dynamical programming. Numerical examples indicate that making use of feedback information significantly improves the success probability compared to classical scheme without taking feedback.

Bilal Riaz, Shuang Cong, Shahid Qamar