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arXiv:quant-ph/0008003 · Physical Review A

Feedback-stabilization of an arbitrary pure state of a two-level atom

Jin Wang, Howard M. Wiseman

Published Nov 16, 2001• 172 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Unit-efficiency homodyne detection of the resonance fluorescence of a two-level atom collapses the quantum state of the atom to a stochastically moving point on the Bloch sphere. Recently, Hofmann, Mahler, and Hess [Phys. Rev. A 57, 4877 (1998)] showed that by making part of the coherent driving proportional to the homodyne photocurrent one can stabilize the state to any point on the bottom-half of the sphere. Here we reanalyze their proposal using the technique of stochastic master equations, allowing their results to be generalized in two ways. First, we show that any point on the upper- or lower-half, but not the equator, of the sphere may be stabilized. Second, we consider nonunit-efficiency detection, and quantify the effectiveness of the feedback by calculating the maximal purity obtainable in any particular direction in Bloch space.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.64.063810

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Unit-efficiency homodyne detection of the resonance fluorescence of a two-level atom collapses the quantum state of the atom to a stochastically moving point on the Bloch sphere. Recently, Hofmann, Mahler, and Hess [Phys. Rev. A 57, 4877 (1998)] showed that by making part of the coherent driving proportional to the homodyne photocurrent one can stabilize the state to any point on the bottom-half of the sphere. Here we reanalyze their proposal using the technique of stochastic master equations, allowing their results to be generalized in two ways. First, we show that any point on the upper- or lower-half, but not the equator, of the sphere may be stabilized. Second, we consider nonunit-efficiency detection, and quantify the effectiveness of the feedback by calculating the maximal purity obtainable in any particular direction in Bloch space.
Summary form only given. Decoherence in quantum systems can be loosely defined as loss of purity. Therefore the ultimate success in using feedback to fight decoherence would be to create an arbitrary stable pure state in the presence of dissipation. This goal was realized by Hoffman, Mahler and Hess (1998) for a very simple system: a resonantly driven two-level atom. They showed that by making part of the coherent driving proportional to the homodyne photocurrent can stabilize the state to any point on the bottom half of the sphere. Here we reanalyze their proposal by using the technique of stochastic master equations, allowing their results to be generalized in three ways.
Quantum feedback can stabilize a two-level atom against decoherence (spontaneous emission), putting it into an arbitrary (specified) pure state. This requires perfect homodyne detection of the atomic emission, and instantaneous feedback. Inefficient detection was considered previously by two of us. Here we allow for a non-zero delay time tau\\tautau in the feedback circuit. Because a two-level atom is a nonlinear optical system, an analytical solution is not possible. However, quantum trajectories allow a simple numerical simulation of the resulting non-Markovian process. We find the effect of the time delay to be qualitatively similar to that of inefficient detection. The solution of the non-Markovian quantum trajectory will not remain fixed, so that the time-averaged state will be mixed, not pure. In the case where one tries to stabilize the atom in the excited state, an approximate analytical solution to the quantum trajectory is possible. The result, that the purity (P=2rmTr[rho2]−1P=2{\\rm Tr}[\\rho^{2}]-1P=2rmTr[rho2]−1) of the average state is given by P=1−4gammatauP=1-4\\gamma\\tauP=1−4gammatau (where gamma\\gammagamma is the spontaneous emission rate) is found to agree very well with the numerical results.
We compare two different approaches to the control of the dynamics of a continuously monitored open quantum system. The first is Markovian feedback, as introduced in quantum optics by Wiseman and Milburn [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 548 (1993)]. The second is feedback based on an estimate of the system state, developed recently by Doherty and Jacobs [Phys. Rev. A 60, 2700 (1999)]. Here we choose to call it, for brevity, Bayesian feedback. For systems with nonlinear dynamics, we expect these two methods of feedback control to give markedly different results. The simplest possible nonlinear system is a driven and damped two-level atom, so we choose this as our model system. The monitoring is taken to be homodyne detection of the atomic fluorescence, and the control is by modulating the driving. The aim of the feedback in both cases is to stabilize the internal state of the atom as close as possible to an arbitrarily chosen pure state, in the presence of inefficient detection and other forms of decoherence. Our results (obtained without recourse to stochastic simulations) prove that Bayesian feedback is never inferior, and is usually superior, to Markovian feedback. However, it would be far more difficult to implement than Markovian feedback and it loses its superiority when obvious simplifying approximations are made. It is thus not clear which form of feedback would be better in the face of inevitable experimental imperfections.
We investigate the possibilities of preserving and manipulating the coherence of atomic two-level systems by ideal projective homodyne detection and feedback. For this purpose, the photon emission process is described on time scales much shorter than the lifetime of the excited state using a model based on Wigner-Weisskopf theory. The backaction of this emission process is analytically described as a quantum diffusion of the Bloch vector. It is shown that the evolution of the atomic wave function can be controlled completely using the results of homodyne detection. This allows the stabilization of a known quantum state or the creation of coherent states by a feedback mechanism. However, the feedback mechanism can never compensate the dissipative effects of quantum fluctuations even though the coherent state of the system is known at all times.
As a specific trait of quantum mechanics, quantum superposition is exploited in many applications such as quantum computation. This paper proposes a feedback scheme to stabilize the desired quantum superposition states. To this aim, a new factorization is derived for the stochastic master equation of a quantum system which is driven by the field in the superposition of coherent states. Then, a feedback scheme is proposed, which consists of a quantum system driven by the field in the superposition of coherent states and a classical feedback channel proportional to the observations of a Homodyne detector. Afterward, the quantum filter of the closed loop system is attained using the SLH framework. Finally, the factorization of the closed loop quantum filter is obtained and the control law is calculated such that the proposed factorization satisfies the stabilization condition. Finally, as an example, the control method is simulated for a two-level atom and the stabilization of the superposition states is achieved.
We measure squeezing spectra for phase-dependent fluorescence of coherently driven two-level atoms in free space. The measured spectra are in excellent agreement with our predictions for a single two-level atom. We find that maximum squeezing occurs for homodyne detection at a phase near ±45° relative to the exciting field, rather than in the in- or out-of-phase quadratures. A new physical picture of phase-dependent noise that incorporates quantum collapses into a Bloch vector model shows why this occurs.