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IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE)

Feedback-Based Steering for Quantum State Preparation

Daniel Volya, Zhixin Pan, Prabhat Mishra

Published Sep 17, 2023• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

State preparation is an essential component in quantum information science. A recently developed steering protocol utilizes a sequence of generalized measurements on a detector to steer a quantum system towards a desired state. However, it is designed as an open-loop technique that requires accurate modeling of the overall quantum system and can be prone to errors. To address this challenge, we propose a closed-loop control technique that introduces feedback to the steering protocol, providing robustness to noise and faster state convergence. We introduce two strategies for feedback: (1) a gradient-based active steering protocol that changes the detector-system coupling conditioned on the detector's readout and (2) tuning the fixed detector-system coupling via model-free reinforcement learning. We study the effectiveness of these strategies under various noise models, including both incoherent and decoherent noise, and discuss potential applications in quantum technologies.

DOI
10.1109/qce57702.2023.00148

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State preparation is an essential component in quantum information science. A recently developed steering protocol utilizes a sequence of generalized measurements on a detector to steer a quantum system towards a desired state. However, it is designed as an open-loop technique that requires accurate modeling of the overall quantum system and can be prone to errors. To address this challenge, we propose a closed-loop control technique that introduces feedback to the steering protocol, providing robustness to noise and faster state convergence. We introduce two strategies for feedback: (1) a gradient-based active steering protocol that changes the detector-system coupling conditioned on the detector's readout and (2) tuning the fixed detector-system coupling via model-free reinforcement learning. We study the effectiveness of these strategies under various noise models, including both incoherent and decoherent noise, and discuss potential applications in quantum technologies.
Quantum state engineering plays a vital role in various applications in the field of quantum information. Different strategies, including drive-and-dissipation, adiabatic cooling, and measurement-based steering, have been proposed for state generation and manipulation, each with its upsides and downsides. Here, we address a class of measurement-based state engineering protocols where a sequence of generalized measurements is employed to steer a quantum system toward a desired (pure or mixed) target state. Previously studied measurement-based protocols relied on idealized procedures and avoided exploration of the effects of various errors stemming from imperfections of experimental realizations and external noise. We employ the quantum trajectory formalism to provide a detailed analysis of the robustness of these steering protocols against multiple classes of errors. We study a set of realistic errors that can be classified as dynamic or static, depending on whether they remain unchanged while running the protocol. More specifically, we investigate the impact of the erroneous choice of detector-system coupling, erroneous re-initialization of the detector state following a measurement step, fluctuating steering directions, and environmentally induced errors in the detector-system interaction. We show that the protocol remains fully robust against the erroneous choice of detector-system coupling parameters and presents reasonable robustness against other types of errors. Our analysis employs various quantifiers such as fidelity, trace distance, and linear entropy to characterize the protocol's robustness and provide analytical results for these quantifiers against various errors. We introduce averaging hierarchies of stochastic equations describing individual quantum trajectories associated with detector readouts. Subsequently, we demonstrate the commutation between the classical expectation value and the time-ordering operator of the exponential of a Hamiltonian with multiplicative white noise, as well as the commutation of the expectation value and the partial trace with respect to detector outcomes. Our ideas are implemented and demonstrated for a specific class of steering platforms, addressing a single qubit. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Obtaining reliable state preparation protocols is a key step toward practical implementation of many quantum technologies, and one of the main tasks in quantum control. In this work, different reinforcement learning approaches are used to derive a feedback law for state preparation of a desired state in a target system. In particular, we focus on the robustness of the obtained strategies with respect to different types and amount of noise. Comparing the results indicates that the learned controls are more robust to unmodeled perturbations with respect to simple feedback strategy based on optimized population transfer, and that training on a simulated nominal model retains the same advantages displayed by controllers trained on real data. The possibility of effective off-line training of robust controllers promises significant advantages toward practical implementation.
We set out a general protocol for steering the state of a quantum system from an arbitrary initial state toward a chosen target state by coupling it to auxiliary quantum degrees of freedom.The protocol requires multiple repetitions of an elementary step: During each step, the system evolves for a fixed time while coupled to auxiliary degrees of freedom (which we term "detector qubits") that have been prepared in a specified initial state.The detectors are discarded at the end of the step, or equivalently, their state is determined by a projective measurement with an unbiased average over all outcomes.The steering harnesses backaction of the detector qubits on the system, arising from entanglement generated during the coupled evolution.We establish principles for the design of the system-detector coupling that ensure steering of a desired form.We illustrate our general ideas using both few-body examples (including a pair of spins-1/2 steered to the singlet state) and a many-body example (a spin-1 chain steered to the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state).We study the continuous time limit in our approach and discuss similarities to (and differences from) drive-and-dissipation protocols for quantum state engineering.Our protocols are amenable to implementations using present-day technology.Obvious extensions of our analysis include engineering of other many-body phases in one and higher spatial dimensions, adiabatic manipulations of the target states, and the incorporation of active error correction steps.
Efficient approaches to quantum control and feedback are essential for quantum technologies, from sensing to quantum computation.Open-loop control tasks have been successfully solved using optimization techniques, including methods such as gradient-ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) , relying on a differentiable model of the quantum dynamics.For feedback tasks, such methods are not directly applicable, since the aim is to discover strategies conditioned on measurement outcomes.In this work, we introduce feedback GRAPE, which borrows some concepts from model-free reinforcement learning to incorporate the response to strong stochastic (discrete or continuous) measurements, while still performing direct gradient ascent through the quantum dynamics.We illustrate its power considering various scenarios based on cavity-QED setups.Our method yields interpretable feedback strategies for state preparation and stabilization in the presence of noise.Our approach could be employed for discovering strategies in a wide range of feedback tasks, from calibration of multiqubit devices to linear-optics quantum computation strategies, quantum enhanced sensing with adaptive measurements, and quantum error correction.
We set out a general protocol for steering the state of a quantum system from an arbitrary initial state towards a chosen target state by coupling it to auxiliary quantum degrees of freedom. The protocol requires multiple repetitions of an elementary step: during each step the system evolves for a fixed time while coupled to auxiliary degrees of freedom (which we term 'detector qubits') that have been prepared in a specified initial state. The detectors are discarded at the end of the step, or equivalently, their state is determined by a projective measurement with an unbiased average over all outcomes. The steering harnesses back-action of the detector qubits on the system, arising from entanglement generated during the coupled evolution. We establish principles for the design of the system-detector coupling that ensure steering of a desired form. We illustrate our general ideas using both few-body examples (including a pair of spins-1/2 steered to the singlet state) and a many-body example (a spin-1 chain steered to the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state). We study the continuous time limit in our approach and discuss similarities to (and differences from) drive-and-dissipation protocols for quantum state engineering. Our protocols are amenable to implementations using present-day technology. Obvious extensions of our analysis include engineering of other many-body phases in one and higher spatial dimensions, adiabatic manipulations of the target states, and the incorporation of active error correction steps.
We propose active steering protocols for quantum state preparation in quantum circuits where each system qubit is connected to a single detector qubit, employing a simple coupling selected from a small set of steering operators. The decision is made such that the expected cost-function gain in one time step is maximized. We apply these protocols to several many-qubit models. Our results are underlined by three remarkable insights. First, we show that the standard fidelity does not give a useful cost function; instead, successful steering is achieved by including local fidelity terms. Second, although the steering dynamics acts on each system qubit separately, entanglement in the generated target state is introduced, and can be tuned at will, by performing Bell measurements on detector qubit pairs after every time step. This implements a weak-measurement variant of entanglement swapping. Third, numerical simulations suggest that the active steering protocol can reach arbitrarily designated target states, including passively unsteerable states such as the NNN-qubit W state.