Reconsidering Rapid Qubit Purification by Feedback
Howard M. Wiseman, J. F. Ralph
Abstract
Abstract. This paper reconsiders the properties of a scheme for the rapid purification of the quantum state of a qubit, proposed recently in Jacobs 2003 Phys. Rev. A 67 030301(R). The qubit starts in a completely mixed state, and information is obtained by a continuous measurement. Jacobs ’ rapid purification protocol uses Hamiltonian feedback control to maximise the average purity of the qubit for a given time, with a factor of two increase in the purification rate over the no-feedback protocol. However, by re-examining the latter approach, we show that it mininises the average time taken for a qubit to reach a given purity. In fact, the average time taken for the no-feedback protocol beats that for Jacobs ’ protocol by a factor of two. We discuss how this is compatible with Jacobs ’ result, and the usefulness of the different approaches. Reconsidering Rapid Qubit Purification by Feedback 2 1.