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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Optimal control in laser-induced population transfer for two- and three-level quantum systems

Ugo Boscain, Grégoire Charlot, Jean-Paul Gauthier, S. Guérin, Hans Rudolf Jauslin

Published May 1, 2002• 215 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We apply the techniques of control theory and of sub-Riemannian geometry to laser-induced population transfer in two- and three-level quantum systems. The aim is to induce complete population transfer by one or two laser pulses minimizing the pulse fluences. Sub-Riemannian geometry and singular-Riemannian geometry provide a natural framework for this minimization, where the optimal control is expressed in terms of geodesics. We first show that in two-level systems the well-known technique of “π-pulse transfer” in the rotating wave approximation emerges naturally from this minimization. In three-level systems driven by two resonant fields, we also find the counterpart of the “π-pulse transfer.” This geometrical picture also allows one to analyze the population transfer by adiabatic passage.

DOI
10.1063/1.1465516

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We apply the techniques of control theory and of sub-Riemannian geometry to laser-induced population transfer in two- and three-level quantum systems. The aim is to induce complete population transfer by one or two laser pulses minimizing the pulse fluences. Sub-Riemannian geometry and singular-Riemannian geometry provide a natural framework for this minimization, where the optimal control is expressed in terms of geodesics. We first show that in two-level systems the well-known technique of “π-pulse transfer” in the rotating wave approximation emerges naturally from this minimization. In three-level systems driven by two resonant fields, we also find the counterpart of the “π-pulse transfer.” This geometrical picture also allows one to analyze the population transfer by adiabatic passage.
We apply the techniques of control theory and of sub-Riemannian geometry to laser-induced population transfer in two- and three-level quantum systems. The aim is to induce complete population transfer by one or two laser pulses minimizing the pulse fluences. Sub-Riemannian geometry and singular-Riemannian geometry provide a natural framework for this minimization, where the optimal control is expressed in terms of geodesics. We first show that in two-level systems the well-known technique of “π-pulse transfer” in the rotating wave approximation emerges naturally from this minimization. In three-level systems driven by two resonant fields, we also find the counterpart of the “π-pulse transfer.” This geometrical picture also allows one to analyze the population transfer by adiabatic passage.
The optimal control of population transfer for multi-level systems is investigated from the perspective of quantum geometry. Firstly, the general theoretical framework of optimizing the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) scheme based on the dynamical quantum geometric tensor is given, and then the dynamical quantum geometric tensor and the nonadiabatic transition rate are calculated by taking the detuned ΛΛΛ-type three-level system and tripod-type four-level system for example. Secondly, the transfer dynamics of the particle population of the system are investigated in detail. For a three-level system, the optimal STIRAP scheme has an efficiency of over 98\% in transferring the population to the final state, while the transfer efficiency of traditional STIRAP is about 72\%. The superposition states with arbitrary proportions can be efficiently prepared for a four-level system due to the decoupling of the degenerate dark states. Finally, the influences of system parameters, such as the operation time of the Rabi pulses, the amplitude fluctuation and the single-photon detuning, on the transfer process are discussed. Especially, the phenomenon of the adiabatic resonance transfer is revealed. Choosing the pulse parameters in the resonance window can reduce the infidelity of the population transfer to below 10−310^{-3}10−3. It is found that the optimal STIRAP scheme by the dynamical quantum geometric tensor provides faster and more efficient transfer than the traditional STIRAP scheme.
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We have studied the population transfer in a three-state system driven by laser beams in terms of the theory of Lewis–Riesenfeld Hermitian invariants for explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonian. The exact solutions obtained allow us to recover two existing schemes producing complete population transfer in the literature, i.e. the π-pulse and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage methods in our unified description. We present a strict formulation of adiabatic conditions and a more accurate expression of the π-pulse method according to the exact time-evolution of state vector.
Population transfer in a three-level Λ system is simulated numerically and optimized. Almost complete population transfer from |1⟩ to |3⟩ is achieved by a genetic algorithm while the population in state |2⟩ reached minimum over the entire evolution at the same time. The result shows that the optimal pulse sequence is the well-known stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) scheme. The detuning of pump pulse and Stokes pulse Δ p and Δ s with the opposite sign and the chirps χ p and χ s with the same sign are in favour of the complete and robust population transfer for few-cycle laser pulse. Rabi frequencies Ω p and Ω s have insensitive effects on the complete population transfer during a large scope of their ratio when they are large enough.
We investigate the problem of population transfer in a two-states system driven by an external electromagnetic field featuring a few cycles, until the extreme limit of two or one cycle. Taking the physical constraint of zero-area total field into account, we determine strategies leading to ultrahigh-fidelity population transfer despite the failure of the rotating wave approximation. We specifically implement adiabatic passage based on adiabatic Floquet theory for a number of cycles as low as 2.5 cycles, finding and making the dynamics follow an adiabatic trajectory connecting the initial and targeted states. Nonadiabatic strategies with shaped or chirped pulses, extending the π-pulse regime to two- or single-cycle pulses, are also derived.