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arXiv:quant-ph/0511021 · Physical Review A

Exact solution of qubit decoherence models by a transfer matrix method

Diu Nghiem, Robert Joynt

Published Mar 23, 2006• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present a method for the solution of the behavior of an ensemble of qubits in a random time-dependent external field. The forward evolution in time is governed by a transfer matrix. The elements of this matrix determine the various decoherence times. The method provides an exact solution in cases where the noise is piecewise constant in time. We show that it applies, for example, to a realistic model of decoherence of electron spins in semiconductors. Results are obtained for the nonperturbative regimes of the models, and we see a transition from weak relaxation to overdamped behavior as a function of noise anisotropy.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.73.032333

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We present a method for the solution of the behavior of an ensemble of qubits in a random time-dependent external field. The forward evolution in time is governed by a transfer matrix. The elements of this matrix determine the various decoherence times. The method provides an exact solution in cases where the noise is piecewise constant in time. We show that it applies, for example, to a realistic model of decoherence of electron spins in semiconductors. Results are obtained for the nonperturbative regimes of the models, and we see a transition from weak relaxation to overdamped behavior as a function of noise anisotropy.
We present a general and exact formalism for finding the evolution of a quantum system subject to external telegraph noise. The various qubit decoherence rates are determined by the eigenvalues of a transfer matrix. The formalism can be applied to a qubit subject to an arbitrary combination of dephasing and relaxational telegraph noise, in contrast to existing nonperturbative methods that treat only one or the other of these limits. Hence we are able to investigate the crossover from pure dephasing noise to pure relaxational noise in detail. New results at strong coupling include the full qubit dynamics on time scales short compared with the environmental correlation times, which reveals unexpected oscillations and induced magnetization components and strong violations of the widely used relation $1∕{T}_{2}=1∕2{T}_{1}+1∕{T}_{\ensuremath{\phi}},$ which is a result of perturbation theory. We also discuss the effects of bang-bang and spin-echo controls of the qubit dynamics in general settings of the telegraph noises. Finally, we discuss the extension of the method to the cases of many telegraph noise sources and multiple qubits. The method still works when white noise is also present.
Two-level systems are one of the most important quantum systems and they form the basis of quantum computers. We briefly look at the traditional approach to two-level systems with an external driving field as well as those subjected to noise. This project is aimed at studying two specific methods for obtaining analytic solutions for two-level systems. One of the methods enables us to obtain analytic solutions for driven time-dependent two-level systems while the other attempts to give exact solution of qubit decoherence using a transfer matrix method. A thorough study of both papers is done and results are reproduced. The latter method is generalized for a qutrit system as well as a two qubit system subjected to noise. A general method is formally derived for an N-dimensional quantum system and the difficulties in applying the method in real life systems is discussed.
The efficiency of the future devices for quantum information processing will be limited mostly by the finite decoherence rates of the qubits. Recently, substantial progress was achieved in enhancing the time within which a solid-state qubit demonstrates coherent dynamics. This progress is based mostly on a successful isolation of the qubits from external decoherence sources. Under these conditions, the material-inherent sources of noise start to play a crucial role. In most cases, the noise that the quantum device demonstrates has a 1/ f spectrum. This suggests that the environment that destroys the phase coherence of the qubit can be thought of as a system of two-state fluctuators, which experience random hops between their states. In this short review, the current state of the theory of the decoherence due to the qubit interaction with the fluctuators is discussed. The effect of such an environment on two different protocols of the qubit manipulations, free induction and echo signal, is described. It turns out that in many important cases the noise produced by the fluctuators is non-Gaussian. Consequently, the results of the interaction of the qubit with the fluctuators are not determined by the pair correlation function alone. We describe the effect of the fluctuators using the so-called spin-fluctuator model. Being quite realistic, this model allows one to exactly evaluate the qubit dynamics in the presence of one fluctuator. This solution is found, and its features, including non-Gaussian effects, are analyzed in detail. We extend this consideration to systems of large numbers of fluctuators, which interact with the qubit and lead to the 1/ f noise. We discuss existing experiments on the Josephson qubit manipulation and try to identify non-Gaussian behavior.
We propose and solve a simple but very general quantum model of a SU (2) spin interacting with a large external system with N states. The coupling is described by a random Hamiltonian in a new general Gaussian SU (2) × U ( N ) random matrix ensemble, that we introduce in this paper. We solve the model in the large N limit, for any value of the spin j and for any choice of the coupling matrix element distributions in the different possible angular momentum channels l (and provided that the internal dynamics of the spin is slow). Besides its mathematical interest as a non-trivial random matrix model, it allows us to study and illustrate in a simple framework various phenomena: the decoherence dynamics, the conditions of emergence of the classical phase space for the spin, and the properties of quantum diffusion in phase space. The large time evolution for the spin is shown to be non-Markovian in general, the Markov property emerging in some specific cases for the dynamics and the initial conditions.
Entangled qubits transported through space is a key element in many prospective quantum information systems, from long-distance quantum communication to large modular quantum processors. The moving qubits are decohered by time- and space-dependent noises with finite extent of correlations. Since the qubit paths are interrelated, the phase fluctuations experienced by the qubits exhibit peculiar correlations, which are difficult to analyze with the conventional theory of random processes. We propose an approach to this problem based on the concept of trajectories on random sheets. We establish its efficacy with a specific example of the electron spins shuttled in semiconductor structures, and derive explicit solutions, revealing the role of unusual noise correlations. We also demonstrate how the analysis of noise correlations can enhance the shuttling fidelity, by studying transport of two entangled spins encoding a logical qubit. The proposed approach enabled us to specify the favorable conditions for this encoding, and find a particularly beneficial shuttling regime. We also describe application of this approach to other shuttling scenarios, and explain its utility for analysis of other types of systems, such as atomic qubits and photons in quantum networks.
In spin-based nanosystems for quantum information processing, electron spin qubits are subject to decoherence due to their interactions with nuclear spin environments. In this paper, we present an exact master equation for a central spin-1/2 system in time-dependent external fields and coupled to a spin-half bath in terms of hyperfine interaction. The master equation provides a unified description for free and controlled dynamics of the central spin and is formally independent of the details and size of spin environments. Different from the previous approaches, the master equation remains exact even in the presence of external control fields. Using the parameters for realistic nanosystems with nonzero nuclear spins, such as GaAs, we investigate the Overhauser's effect on the decoherence dynamics of the central spin under different distributions of bath-spin frequencies and system-bath coupling strengths. Furthermore, we apply the leakage elimination operator, in a nonperturbative manner, to this system to suppress the decoherence induced by hyperfine interaction.