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Optimal protocols for driven quantum systems

Patrick R. Zulkowski, Michael Robert DeWeese

Published Jun 11, 2015• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

The design of efficient quantum information processing will rely on optimal nonequilibrium transitions of driven quantum systems. Building on a recently-developed geometric framework for computing optimal protocols for classical systems driven in finite-time, we construct a general framework for optimizing the average information entropy for driven quantum systems. Geodesics on the parameter manifold endowed with a positive semi-definite metric correspond to protocols that minimize the average information entropy production in finite-time. We use this framework to explicitly compute the optimal entropy production for a simple two-state quantum system coupled to a heat bath of bosonic oscillators, which has applications to quantum annealing.

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The design of efficient quantum information processing will rely on optimal nonequilibrium transitions of driven quantum systems. Building on a recently-developed geometric framework for computing optimal protocols for classical systems driven in finite-time, we construct a general framework for optimizing the average information entropy for driven quantum systems. Geodesics on the parameter manifold endowed with a positive semi-definite metric correspond to protocols that minimize the average information entropy production in finite-time. We use this framework to explicitly compute the optimal entropy production for a simple two-state quantum system coupled to a heat bath of bosonic oscillators, which has applications to quantum annealing.
The design of efficient quantum information processing will rely on optimal nonequilibrium transitions of driven quantum systems. Building on a recently developed geometric framework for computing optimal protocols for classical systems driven in finite time, we construct a general framework for optimizing the average information entropy for driven quantum systems. Geodesics on the parameter manifold endowed with a positive semidefinite metric correspond to protocols that minimize the average information entropy production in finite time. We use this framework to explicitly compute the optimal entropy production for a simple two-state quantum system coupled to a heat bath of bosonic oscillators, which has applications to quantum annealing.
Constructing optimal thermodynamic processes in quantum systems relies on managing the balance between the average excess work and its stochastic fluctuations. Recently it has been shown that two different quantum generalisations of thermodynamic length can be utilised to determine protocols with either minimal excess work or minimal work variance. These lengths measure the distance between points on a manifold of control parameters, and optimal protocols are achieved by following the relevant geodesic paths given some fixed boundary conditions. Here we explore this problem in the context of Gaussian quantum states that are weakly coupled to an environment and derive general expressions for these two forms of thermodynamic length. We then use this to compute optimal thermodynamic protocols for various examples of externally driven Gaussian systems with multiple control parameters.
Constructing optimal thermodynamic processes in quantum systems relies on managing the balance between the average excess work and its stochastic fluctuations. Recently it has been shown that two different quantum generalizations of thermodynamic length can be utilized to determine protocols with either minimal excess work or minimal work variance. These lengths measure the distance between points on a manifold of control parameters, and optimal protocols are achieved by following the relevant geodesic paths given some fixed boundary conditions. Here we explore this problem in the context of Gaussian quantum states that are weakly coupled to an environment and derive general expressions for these two forms of thermodynamic length. We then use this to compute optimal thermodynamic protocols for various examples of externally driven Gaussian systems with multiple control parameters.
We propose a method to obtain optimal protocols for adiabatic ground-state preparation near the adiabatic limit, extending earlier ideas from [D. A. Sivak and G. E. Crooks, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 190602 (2012)] to quantum non-dissipative systems. The space of controllable parameters of isolated quantum many-body systems is endowed with a Riemannian quantum metric structure, which can be exploited when such systems are driven adiabatically. Here, we use this metric structure to construct optimal protocols in order to accomplish the task of adiabatic ground-state preparation in a fixed amount of time. Such optimal protocols are shown to be geodesics on the parameter manifold, maximizing the local fidelity. Physically, such protocols minimize the average energy fluctuations along the path. Our findings are illustrated on the Landau-Zener model and the anisotropic XY spin chain. In both cases we show that geodesic protocols drastically improve the final fidelity. Moreover, this happens even if one crosses a critical point, where the adiabatic perturbation theory fails.
We present an information geometric analysis of both entropic speeds and entropy production rates arising from geodesic evolution on manifolds parametrized by pure quantum states. In particular, we employ pure states that emerge as outputs of suitably chosen [Formula: see text] time-dependent Hamiltonian operators that characterize analog quantum search algorithms of specific types. The [Formula: see text] Hamiltonian models under consideration are specified by external time-dependent magnetic fields within which spin-[Formula: see text] test particles are immersed. The positive definite Riemannian metrization of the parameter manifold is furnished by the Fisher information function. The Fisher information function is evaluated along parametrized squared probability amplitudes obtained from the temporal evolution of these spin-[Formula: see text] test particles. A minimum action approach is then utilized to induce the transfer of the quantum system from its initial state to its final state on the parameter manifold over a finite temporal interval. We demonstrate in an explicit manner that the minimal (that is, optimum) path corresponds to the shortest (that is, geodesic) path between the initial and final states. Furthermore, we show that the minimal path serves also to minimize the total entropy production occurring during the transfer of states. Finally, upon evaluating the entropic speed as well as the total entropy production along optimal transfer paths within several scenarios of physical interest in analog quantum searching algorithms, we demonstrate in a transparent quantitative manner a correspondence between a faster transfer and a higher rate of entropy production. We therefore conclude that higher entropic speed is associated with lower entropic efficiency within the context of quantum state transfer.
The second law of thermodynamics sets a lower bound on the work required to drive a system between thermal equilibrium states, with equality attained in the quasistatic limit. For finite-time processes, work in excess of this bound is inevitably dissipated, motivating the search for driving protocols that minimize this excess work. While classical stochastic systems have been extensively explored, quantum analyses remain limited and often rely on Markovian master equations valid only in the weak-coupling regime. Here, we study minimal work protocols for representative two-level systems coupled to a harmonic-oscillator bath using a numerically exact method. Inspired by known optimal solutions for Brownian oscillators, we introduce an impulse ansatz that incorporates possible boundary impulses and test it across a wide range of bath parameters. We find that impulse-like features remain nearly optimal in the quantum, non-Markovian regime at short times. We also identify cases in which the widely used Markovian master equation fails even at weak coupling, highlighting the necessity of going beyond standard approximations in the quantum regime for finite-time thermodynamic optimization.