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arXiv:quant-ph/0601034 · Physical Review A

Direct characterization of quantum dynamics: General theory

Masoud Mohseni, Daniel A. Lidar

Published Jun 26, 2007• 61 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The characterization of the dynamics of quantum systems is a task of both fundamental and practical importance. A general class of methods which have been developed in quantum information theory to accomplish this task is known as quantum process tomography (QPT). In an earlier paper [M. Mohseni and D. A. Lidar Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 170501 (2006)] we presented an algorithm for direct characterization of quantum dynamics (DCQD) of two-level quantum systems. Here we provide a generalization by developing a theory for direct and complete characterization of the dynamics of arbitrary quantum systems. In contrast to other QPT schemes, DCQD relies on quantum error-detection techniques and does not require any quantum state tomography. We demonstrate that for the full characterization of the dynamics of $n$ $d$-level quantum systems (with $d$ prime), the minimal number of required experimental configurations is reduced quadratically from ${d}^{4n}$ in separable QPT schemes to ${d}^{2n}$ in DCQD.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.75.062331

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The characterization of the dynamics of quantum systems is a task of both fundamental and practical importance. A general class of methods which have been developed in quantum information theory to accomplish this task is known as quantum process tomography (QPT). In an earlier paper [M. Mohseni and D. A. Lidar Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 170501 (2006)] we presented an algorithm for direct characterization of quantum dynamics (DCQD) of two-level quantum systems. Here we provide a generalization by developing a theory for direct and complete characterization of the dynamics of arbitrary quantum systems. In contrast to other QPT schemes, DCQD relies on quantum error-detection techniques and does not require any quantum state tomography. We demonstrate that for the full characterization of the dynamics of nnn ddd-level quantum systems (with ddd prime), the minimal number of required experimental configurations is reduced quadratically from d4n{d}^{4n}d4n in separable QPT schemes to d2n{d}^{2n}d2n in DCQD.
The characterization of quantum dynamics is a fundamental and central task in quantum mechanics. This task is typically addressed by quantum process tomography (QPT). Here we present an alternative "direct characterization of quantum dynamics" (DCQD) algorithm. In contrast to all known QPT methods, this algorithm relies on error-detection techniques and does not require any quantum state tomography. We illustrate that, by construction, the DCQD algorithm can be applied to the task of obtaining partial information about quantum dynamics. Furthermore, we argue that the DCQD algorithm is experimentally implementable in a variety of prominent quantum-information processing systems, and show how it can be realized in photonic systems with present day technology.
Direct characterization of quantum dynamics (DCQD) introduced by Mohseni and Lidar [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 170501 (2006)] offers an effective way for estimation of quantum dynamical systems. Employing single-photon two-qubit states, we experimentally implement DCQD of one-qubit dynamics. The requirement of two-body interactions is thus eliminated such that the algorithm can be realized more conveniently. Both DCQD and standard quantum process tomography (SQPT) measurements are performed for several processes. The data from both methods show good agreement. Although the average process fidelities of the data obtained via DCQD are a little lower than that of SQPT, the number of experimental configurations is quadratically reduced evidencing the quadratic advantage of DCQD scheme. Partial information of the quantum dynamics can also be directly extracted via DCQD with fewer measurements.
An optimal quantum algorithm for "direct characterization of quantum dynamics" (DCQD) is introduced. The DCQD method can be utilized to completely determine the quantum dynamical superoperator acting on an open quantum system. In contrast to all other known quantum process tomography (QPT) schemes, this scheme relies on error-detection techniques and does not require any quantum state tomography. By analysis of the number of required experimental configurations and quantum operations in a given Hilbert space, it is demonstrated that this approach is more efficient than all other known QPT schemes. DCQD can be applied, by construction, to the task of partial characterization of quantum dynamics. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the DCQD algorithm can be efficiently used for Hamiltonian identification, and also for simultaneous determination of both the relaxation time T1 and dephasing time T2. Furthermore, it is argued that the DCQD scheme is experimentally implementable in a variety of prominent quantum information processing systems, and it is explicitly shown how it can be physically realized in photonic systems with present day technology. The ability of a quantum system to perform arbitrary or "universal" quantum operations is restricted to its naturally available/controllable interactions. It is shown that quantum systems with an effective exchange interaction can be made operationally universal by utilizing a subspace or a subsystem of the combined principal system and an auxiliary system. Moreover, it is demonstrated that universal fault-tolerant quantum computation can be performed on these systems without utilizing any form of single-qubit control. Characterization and control of open quantum systems are among the central and fundamental problems in quantum physics. A crucial primitive is the characterization of the dynamics of a quantum system that has an unknown interaction with its embedding environment. Another essential task is to control the decoherence of an open quantum system by using naturally available interactions. This thesis addresses the above fundamental problems in two separate parts. In the first part, a general theory for direct and complete characterization of quantum dynamics is introduced. In the second part, a scheme for performing arbitrary quantum operations on spin-based quantum systems is presented. This scheme can be implemented in the presence of environmental noise and faulty quantum operations without need to control the state of spins individually.
We experimentally implement direct characterization of quantum dynamics (DCQD) algorithm of a single qubit proposed in M. Mohseni and D. A. Lidar [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 170501 (2006)], which does not require quantum state tomography. The number of experimental configurations is reduced by a factor of 2 compared with that of standard quantum process tomography, which can be increased four times with an ideal Bell state analyzer. We combine the DCQD algorithm with maximum-likelihood estimation to give the physical characterization of quantum dynamics. It can also be applied to obtaining partial information about quantum dynamics.
Characterization of quantum dynamics is a fundamental problem in quantum physics and quantum-information science. Several methods are known which achieve this goal, namely standard quantum-process tomography (SQPT), ancilla-assisted process tomography, and the recently proposed scheme of direct characterization of quantum dynamics (DCQD). Here, we review these schemes and analyze them with respect to some of the physical resources they require. Although a reliable figure-of-merit for process characterization is not yet available, our analysis can provide a benchmark which is necessary for choosing the scheme that is the most appropriate in a given situation, with given resources. As a result, we conclude that for quantum systems where two-body interactions are not naturally available, SQPT is the most efficient scheme. However, for quantum systems with controllable two-body interactions, the DCQD scheme is more efficient than other known quantum-process tomography schemes in terms of the total number of required elementary quantum operations.
As the method to completely characterize quantum dynamical processes, quantum process tomography (QPT) is vitally important for quantum information processing and quantum control, where the faithfulness of quantum devices plays an essential role. Here via weak measurements, we present a new QPT scheme characterized by its directness and parallelism. Comparing with the existing schemes, our scheme needs a simpler state preparation and much fewer experimental setups. Furthermore, each parameter of the quantum process is directly determined from only five experimental values in our scheme, meaning that our scheme is robust against the accumulation of errors.