In the hardware implementation of quantum computation, the control pulses for quantum states and gate operations must be calibrated to correct errors induced by unknown drifts of system parameters. The calibration can be iteratively done by checking the control precision, but the required randomized benchmarking or quantum tomography is experimentally expensive. In this paper, we propose that the control calibration and the quantum tomography can be taken as two separate but collaborative learning processes. Combining the gradient-descent pulse engineering and the adaptive tomography, the resulting c-GRAPE algorithm can substantially reduce the high cost of measurements without sacrificing the control accuracy. The effectiveness is demonstrated by numerical simulation examples.
In the hardware implementation of quantum computation, the control pulses for quantum states and gate operations must be calibrated to correct errors induced by unknown drifts of system parameters. The calibration can be iteratively done by checking the control precision, but the required randomized benchmarking or quantum tomography is experimentally expensive. In this paper, we propose that the control calibration and the quantum tomography can be taken as two separate but collaborative learning processes. Combining the gradient-descent pulse engineering and the adaptive tomography, the resulting c-GRAPE algorithm can substantially reduce the high cost of measurements without sacrificing the control accuracy. The effectiveness is demonstrated by numerical simulation examples.
High-precision control of quantum states and gate operations is essential to the hardware implementation of quantum computation. Recently, online calibration has become an important tool for correcting errors induced by parameter shifts or environmental noises in the underlying quantum control systems. However, the experimental cost for acquiring information through quantum tomography (for state or gate reconstruction) is very high, especially when many iterations are to be done. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme that integrates the gradient-descent optimization of quantum control pulses with the adaptive learning of quantum tomography as two interactive processes, which updates the control iteratively with the progressively refined state tomography. This scheme, which we call c-GRAPE, can greatly improve the calibration efficiency by substantial reduction the experimental cost for tomography without sacrificing the control precision.
In the quest to achieve scalable quantum information processing technologies, gradient-based optimal control algorithms (e.g., grape) are broadly used for implementing high-precision quantum gates, but their performance is often hindered by deterministic or random errors in the system model and the control electronics. In this paper, we show that grape can be taught to be more effective by jointly learning from the design model and the experimental data obtained from process tomography. The resulting data-driven gradient optimization algorithm (d-grape) can in principle correct all deterministic gate errors, with a mild efficiency loss. The d-grape algorithm may become more powerful with broadband controls that involve a large number of control parameters, while other algorithms usually slow down due to the increased size of the search space. These advantages are demonstrated by simulating the implementation of a two-qubit controlled-not gate.
Highly accurate and robust control of quantum operations is vital for the realization of error-correctible quantum computation. In this paper, we show that the robustness of high-precision controls can be remarkably enhanced through sampling-based stochastic optimization of a risk-sensitive (RS) loss function. Following the stochastic gradient-descent direction of this loss function, the optimization is guided to penalize poor-performance uncertainty samples in a tunable manner. We propose two algorithms, which are termed as the RS GRAPE and the adaptive RS GRAPE. Their effectiveness is demonstrated by numerical simulations, which is shown to be able to achieve high-control robustness while maintaining high fidelity.
Real-time adaptive control of quantum systems requires rapid generation of robust, high-fidelity pulses across a continuous range of operating conditions. Standard optimization algorithms such as gradient-ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) solve each instance independently, discarding information between runs and requiring costly reinitialization when parameters change. We present an approach to robust optimal quantum control based on model-based reinforcement learning, in which a single neural network -- embedding the Hamiltonian directly into the training pipeline -- generates robust gates across an entire family of gate configurations, without pre-computed training data. Demonstrated on a single-spin (two-level) system, the trained networks produce pulses for arbitrary rotation angles over a range of pulse durations, detunings, and field inhomogeneities in milliseconds, at fidelities comparable to multi-seed GRAPE. The framework is inherently adaptable: any parameter entering the Hamiltonian can serve as a network input, extending the approach to different systems and control settings. Beyond speed, the network reveals structure in the control landscape: it discovers the same structured phase profiles that appear in GRAPE solutions -- made identifiable through fidelity-invariant symmetry transformations -- but more consistently than independent optimization. This consistency enables smooth interpolation across the entire trained parameter space.
The efficient implementation of quantum computing is contingent upon high-fidelity quantum operations. Nevertheless, the fidelity of these operations is constrained by the precision of quantum system evolution control. The optimization of quantum control pulses is essential for improving the manipulation accuracy of superconducting qubits. Traditional optimization methods, including gradient descent and the gradient ascent pulse engineering algorithm, frequently encounter challenges such as slow convergence and susceptibility to local optima in pulse optimization problems. This study introduces an adaptive open-loop optimization algorithm based on the adaptive moment estimation (Adam) optimizer, capitalizing on the benefits of momentum and adaptive learning rate adjustments inherent in Adam. We conduct experimental analysis on the algorithm’s hyperparameters to achieve optimal solutions with a higher fidelity range at a faster convergence speed, effectively improving the fidelity and optimization efficiency of quantum gate operations. Through numerical simulations on the QuTiP platform, we validate the excellent performance of the Adam algorithm in quantum gate optimization. In optimizing the X and SWAP gates, its fidelity improved by 0.03% and 0.0016%, respectively, compared to the GRAPE algorithm. Compared to the CRAB method, the initial convergence speed of the Adam method increased fivefold, enabling it to achieve the target fidelity more rapidly. Future research will investigate closed-loop optimization strategies, utilizing feedback derived from the fidelity results of actual quantum computers to further augment quantum control performance
Quantum optimal control, a powerful toolbox for engineering an optimal control field modulation that most precisely implements a desired quantum operation in the best way possible, has evolved into one of the cornerstones for enabling quantum technologies. The gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) algorithm is a widely used method in quantum optimal control, which has achieved great success in different physical platforms. However, its computational complexity increases exponentially with the number of qubits, making it challenging to be implemented for large-scale quantum systems. To mitigate this issue, we present the iterative GRAPE algorithm (iGRAPE), which reduces the optimization problem into a series of lower-dimensional subproblems by incorporating disentanglement operations. Our numerical simulations on physical platforms such as nuclear magnetic resonance and superconducting quantum systems demonstrate that iGRAPE significantly enhances state preparation speed. Specifically, compared to GRAPE, iGRAPE achieves up to a five-fold acceleration in preparing Greenberger--Horne--Zeilinger states using a 12-qubit implementation, and up to a 13-fold acceleration for arbitrary state preparation with eight qubits. To further validate our findings, we conduct experimental validation of iGRAPE on a four-qubit nuclear magnetic resonance system. Overall, iGRAPE offers an efficient solution for implementing optimal control in large-scale quantum systems, holding great potential for advancing quantum technologies during the noisy intermediate-scale quantum era.