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arXiv:quant-ph/0608075 · IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control

Finite Controllability of Infinite-Dimensional Quantum Systems

Anthony M. Bloch, Roger W. Brockett, Chitra Rangan

Published Mar 2, 2010• 70 citations
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Abstract

Quantum phenomena of interest in connection with applications to computation and communication often involve generating specific transfers between eigenstates, and their linear superpositions. For some quantum systems, such as spin systems, the quantum evolution equation (the Schrödinger equation) is finite-dimensional and old results on controllability of systems defined on on Lie groups and quotient spaces provide most of what is needed insofar as controllability of non-dissipative systems is concerned. However, in an infinite-dimensional setting, controlling the evolution of quantum systems often presents difficulties, both conceptual and technical. In this paper we present a systematic approach to a class of such problems for which it is possible to avoid some of the technical issues. In particular, we analyze controllability for infinite-dimensional bilinear systems under assumptions that make controllability possible using trajectories lying in a nested family of pre-defined subspaces. This result, which we call the Finite Controllability Theorem, provides a set of sufficient conditions for controllability in an infinite-dimensional setting. We consider specific physical systems that are of interest for quantum computing, and provide insights into the types of quantum operations (gates) that may be developed.

DOI
10.1109/tac.2010.2044273

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Quantum phenomena of interest in connection with applications to computation and communication often involve generating specific transfers between eigenstates, and their linear superpositions. For some quantum systems, such as spin systems, the quantum evolution equation (the Schrödinger equation) is finite-dimensional and old results on controllability of systems defined on on Lie groups and quotient spaces provide most of what is needed insofar as controllability of non-dissipative systems is concerned. However, in an infinite-dimensional setting, controlling the evolution of quantum systems often presents difficulties, both conceptual and technical. In this paper we present a systematic approach to a class of such problems for which it is possible to avoid some of the technical issues. In particular, we analyze controllability for infinite-dimensional bilinear systems under assumptions that make controllability possible using trajectories lying in a nested family of pre-defined subspaces. This result, which we call the Finite Controllability Theorem, provides a set of sufficient conditions for controllability in an infinite-dimensional setting. We consider specific physical systems that are of interest for quantum computing, and provide insights into the types of quantum operations (gates) that may be developed.
Quantum phenomena of interest in connection with computation and communication often deal with transfers between eigenstates. For systems having only a finite number of states, the quantum evolution equation is finite-dimensional and the results on controllability on Lie groups as worked out decades ago provide most of what is needed in so far as controllability of dissipationless systems is concerned. However, for infinite-dimensional evolution of quantum systems, many difficulties, both conceptual and technical, remain. In this paper we organize some recent results from the physics literature in control theoretic terms and emphasize the type of analysis needed to go beyond what basic differential geometry can provide. In particular, we analyze from a controllability point of view the important results of Law and Eberly, and discuss the problem of controllability of quantum systems subject to the constraint that the trajectories must lie in pre-defined subspaces. The study of this problem is motivated by recent work on the design of quantum computers that avoid loss of coherence by operating in decoherence free subspaces.
In the framework of bilinear control of the Schrödinger equation with bounded control operators, it has been proved that the reachable set has a dense complemement in S∩H2{\cal S}\cap {\cal H}^{2}S∩H2. Hence, in this setting, exact quantum control in infinite dimensions is not possible. On the other hand it is known that there is a simple choice of operators which, when applied to an arbitrary state, generate dense orbits in Hilbert space. Compatibility of these two results is established in this paper and, in particular, it is proved that the closure of the reachable set of bilinear control by bounded operators is dense in S∩H2{\cal S}\cap {\cal H}^{2}S∩H2. The requirements for controllability in infinite dimensions are also related to the properties of the infinite dimensional unitary group.
The question of controllability is investigated for a quantum control system in which the Hamiltonian operator components carry explicit time dependence which is not under the control of an external agent. We consider the general situation in which the state moves in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, a drift term is present, and the operators driving the state evolution may be unbounded. However, considerations are restricted by the assumption that there exists an analytic domain, dense in the state space, on which solutions of the controlled Schrödinger equation may be expressed globally in exponential form. The issue of controllability then naturally focuses on the ability to steer the quantum state on a finite-dimensional submanifold of the unit sphere in Hilbert space—and thus on analytic controllability. A relatively straightforward strategy allows the extension of Lie-algebraic conditions for strong analytic controllability derived earlier for the simpler, time-independent system in which the drift Hamiltonian and the interaction Hamiltonian have no intrinsic time dependence. Enlarging the state space by one dimension corresponding to the time variable, we construct an augmented control system that can be treated as time independent. Methods developed by Kunita can then be implemented to establish controllability conditions for the one-dimension-reduced system defined by the original time-dependent Schrödinger control problem. The applicability of the resulting theorem is illustrated with selected examples.
In this paper, we define four different notions of controllability of physical interest for multilevel quantum mechanical systems. These notions involve the possibility of driving the evolution operator as well as the state of the system. We establish the connections among these different notions as well as methods to verify controllability. The paper also contains results on the relation between the controllability in arbitrary small time of a system varying on a compact transformation Lie group and the corresponding system on the associated homogeneous space. As an application, we prove that, for the system of two interacting spin 1/2 particles, not every state transfer can be obtained in arbitrary small time.
Abstract — The question of controllability is investigated for a quantum control system in which the Hamiltonian operator components carry explicit time dependence which is not under the control of an external agent. We consider the general situation in which the state moves in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, a drift term is present, and the operators driving the state evolution may be unbounded. However, considerations are restricted by the assumption that there exists an analytic domain, dense in the state space, on which solutions of the controlled Schrödinger equation may be expressed globally in exponential form. The issue of controllability then naturally focuses on the ability to steer the quantum state on a finitedimensional submanifold of the unit sphere in Hilbert space – and thus on analytic controllability. A relatively straightforward strategy allows the extension of Lie-algebraic conditions for strong analytic controllability derived earlier for the simpler, time-independent system in which the drift Hamiltonian and the interaction Hamiltonia have no intrinsic time dependence. Enlarging the state space by one dimension corresponding to the time variable, we construct an augmented control system that can be treated as time-independent. Methods developed by Kunita can then be implemented to establish controllability conditions for the one-dimension-reduced system defined by the original time-dependent Schrödinger control problem. The applicability of the resulting theorem is illustrated with selected examples. I.
In this paper, we consider the problem of the controllability of a finite-dimensional quantum system in both the Schrödinger and interaction pictures. Introducing a Quantum Transfer Graph, we elucidate the role of Lie algebra rank conditions and the complex nature of the control matrices. We analyze the example of a sequentially coupled N-level system: a spin-12 particle coupled to a finite quantum harmonic oscillator. This models an important physical paradigm of quantum computers—the trapped ion. We describe the control of the finite model obtained, under the right conditions, from the original infinite-dimensional system.