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Physical Review A

Quantum optimal control of the driven dissipative two-level system

Hamza Jirari, HERSCHEL A. RABITZ

Published Oct 16, 2024• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamics of a two-level system coupled to a super-Ohmic boson bath, which is the so-called driven spin-boson model. Using the polaron transformation we derive the Bloch vector of a master equation where the bar tunneling parameter is used as the basis for a perturbation expansion. Our method is based on the canonical quantization provided by the Bloch-Redfield formalism. We apply quantum optimal control theory to the realization of a quantum $Z$ gate and also the coherent destruction of tunneling. To solve our optimal control problem, we use the techniques of automatic differentiation as an alternative to Pontryagin's minimum principle. The latter is less straightforward since the master equation is complex.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.042618

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This paper investigates the dynamics of a two-level system coupled to a super-Ohmic boson bath, which is the so-called driven spin-boson model. Using the polaron transformation we derive the Bloch vector of a master equation where the bar tunneling parameter is used as the basis for a perturbation expansion. Our method is based on the canonical quantization provided by the Bloch-Redfield formalism. We apply quantum optimal control theory to the realization of a quantum ZZZ gate and also the coherent destruction of tunneling. To solve our optimal control problem, we use the techniques of automatic differentiation as an alternative to Pontryagin's minimum principle. The latter is less straightforward since the master equation is complex.
Abstract In principle one can use Pontryagin's minimum principle to treat an optimal control problem and derive the gradient for the cost functional. However, for the driven spin-boson model studied here, the response of the system to the variation of the control is determined by the master equation and the equation of motion for the propagator of the coherent system dynamics. As a result, the application of Pontryagin's minimum principle is less straightforward. An alternative to this approach is the technique of automatic differentiation which in principle amounts to doing calculus on the fully discretized form of the optimal control problem. Automatic differentiation tools can be viewed as black boxes taking as input a program computing the cost functional and giving as output another program computing its gradient. First we derive for the polaron transformed Hamiltonian a Born-Markov master equation using the Bloch-Redfield formalism. By combining the latter with automatic differentiation we are able to implement Z -gate and coherent destruction of tunnelling with high fidelity. Optimization of a dissipative quantum gate poses a more complex numerical problem, since it should occur independent of the input state. To overcome this difficulty, we apply optimal control to the concept of resolvent of the master equation which is the generalisation of quantum unitary evolution operator in the case of dissipative dynamics.
A Markovian master equation describing the evolution of open quantum systems in the presence of a time-dependent external field is derived within the Bloch-Redfield formalism. It leads to a system-bath interaction which depends on the control field. Optimal control theory is used to select control fields which allow accelerated or decelerated system relaxation, or suppression of relaxation (dissipation) altogether, depending on the dynamics we impose on the quantum system. The control-dissipation correlation and the nonperturbative treatment of the control field are essential for reaching this goal. The optimal control problem is formulated within Pontryagin's minimum principle and the resulting optimal differential system is solved numerically. As an application, we study the dynamics of a spin-boson model in the strong coupling regime under the influence of an external control field. We show how trapping the system in unstable quantum states and transfer of population can be achieved by optimized control of the dissipative quantum system. We also used optimal control theory to find the driving field that generates the quantum ZZZ gate. In several cases studied, we find that the selected optimal field which reduces the purity loss significantly is a multicomponent low-frequency field including higher harmonics, all of which lie below the phonon cutoff frequency. Finally, in the undriven case we present an analytic result for the Lamb shift at zero temperature.
In this paper we investigate the application of optimal control of a single qubit coupled to an ohmic heat bath. For the weak bath coupling regime, we derive a Bloch-Redfield master equation describing the evolution of the qubit state parametrized by vectors in the Bloch sphere. By use of the optimal control methodology we determine the field that generates an arbitrary single qubit rotation in minimum time. In particular we develop an efficient method for solving the time-optimal control problem, namely the implementation of XXX gate, which consists of a rotation about the $\stackrel{P\vec}{ox}$ axis through angle $\ensuremath{\pi}$. The time-optimal control problem requires a bounded control. If upper and lower bounds are imposed for the external control, the optimal solution is of bang-bang type and switches from the upper to the lower values of the control bounds. We compare our results using the techniques of automatic differentiation to compute the gradient for the cost functional with some known results using Pontryagin's minimum principle. We use an alternative numerical approach for the optimization strategy.
This article provides a review of recent developments in the formulation and execution of optimal control strategies for the dynamics of quantum systems. A brief introduction to the concept of optimal control, the dynamics of of open quantum systems, and quantum information processing is followed by a presentation of recent developments regarding the two main tasks in this context: state-specific and state-independent optimal control. For the former, we present an extension of conventional theory (Pontryagin's principle) to quantum systems which undergo a non-Markovian time-evolution. Owing to its importance for the realization of quantum information processing, the main body of the review, however, is devoted to state-independent optimal control. Here, we address three different approaches: an approach which treats dissipative effects from the environment in lowest-order perturbation theory, a general method based on the time--evolution superoperator concept, as well as one based on the Kraus representation of the time-evolution superoperator. Applications which illustrate these new methods focus on single and double qubits (quantum gates) whereby the environment is modeled either within the Lindblad equation or a bath of bosons (spin-boson model). While these approaches are widely applicable, we shall focus our attention to solid-state based physical realizations, such as semiconductor- and superconductor-based systems. While an attempt is made to reference relevant and representative work throughout the community, the exposition will focus mainly on work which has emerged from our own group.
The quantum dynamics of the dissipative two-level system in the Ohmic bath with Rabi driving is studied by means of a modified Bloch-Redfield approach based on a unitary transformation. The main purpose is to understand the effect of counter-rotating terms of the system-environment interaction on the dynamics of the two-level system and, in particular, if it is possible to control the effective system-environment coupling by their effect on the interference between driving and dissipation. By calculating the nonequilibrium correlation P(t)P(t)P(t) for a finite driving it is shown that the counter-rotating terms of the system-environment interaction play an important role in the dynamic evolution with a longer coherent time and a weaker amplitude of the long-time driven oscillation.