Alexander Pechen

Quantum control by von Neumann measurements

A general scheme is presented for controlling quantum systems using evolution driven by nonselective von Neumann measurements, with or without an additional tailored electromagnetic field. As an example, a two-level quantum system controlled by nonselective quantum measurements is considered. The control goal is to find optimal system observables such that consecutive nonselective measurement of these observables transforms the system from a given initial state into a state which maximizes the expected value of a target operator (the objective). A complete analytical solution is found including explicit expressions for the optimal measured observables and for the maximal objective value given any target operator, any initial system density matrix, and any number of measurements. As an illustration, upper bounds on measurement-induced population transfer between the ground and the excited states for any number of measurements are found. The anti-Zeno effect is recovered in the limit of an infinite number of measurements. In this limit the system becomes completely controllable. The results establish the degree of control attainable by a finite number of measurements.

Incoherent Control of Quantum Systems With Wavefunction-Controllable Subspaces via Quantum Reinforcement Learning

In this paper, an incoherent control scheme for accomplishing the state control of a class of quantum systems which have wavefunction-controllable subspaces is proposed. This scheme includes the following two steps: projective measurement on the initial state and learning control in the wavefunction-controllable subspace. The first step probabilistically projects the initial state into the wavefunction-controllable subspace. The probability of success is sensitive to the initial state; however, it can be greatly improved through multiple experiments on several identical initial states even in the case with a small probability of success for an individual measurement. The second step finds a local optimal control sequence via quantum reinforcement learning and drives the controlled system to the objective state through a set of suitable controls. In this strategy, the initial states can be unknown identical states, the quantum measurement is used as an effective control, and the controlled system is not necessarily unitarily controllable. This incoherent control scheme provides an alternative quantum engineering strategy for locally controllable quantum systems.

Control landscapes for observable preparation with open quantum systems

A quantum control landscape is defined as the observable as a function(al) of the system control variables. Such landscapes were introduced to provide a basis to understand the increasing number of successful experiments controlling quantum dynamics phenomena. This paper extends the concept to encompass the broader context of the environment having an influence. For the case that the open system dynamics are fully controllable, it is shown that the control landscape for open systems can be lifted to the analysis of an equivalent auxiliary landscape of a closed composite system that contains the environmental interactions. This inherent connection can be analyzed to provide relevant information about the topology of the original open system landscape. Application to the optimization of an observable expectation value reveals the same landscape simplicity observed in former studies on closed systems. In particular, no false suboptimal traps exist in the system control landscape when seeking to optimize an observable, even in the presence of complex environments. Moreover, a quantitative study of the control landscape of a system interacting with a thermal environment shows that the enhanced controllability attainable with open dynamics significantly broadens the range of the achievable observable values over the control landscape.

Controllability of open quantum systems with Kraus-map dynamics

This paper presents a constructive proof of complete kinematic state controllability of finite-dimensional open quantum systems whose dynamics are represented by Kraus maps. For any pair of states (pure or mixed) on the Hilbert space of the system, we explicitly show how to construct a Kraus map that transforms one state into another. Moreover, we prove by construction the existence of a Kraus map that transforms all initial states into a predefined target state (such a process may be used, for example, in quantum information dilution). Thus, in sharp contrast to unitary control, Kraus-map dynamics allows for the design of controls which are robust to variations in the initial state of the system. The capabilities of non-unitary control for population transfer between pure states illustrated for an example of a two-level system by constructing a family of non-unitary Kraus maps to transform one pure state into another. The problem of dynamic state controllability of open quantum systems (i.e., controllability of state-to-state transformations, given a set of available dynamical resources such as coherent controls, incoherent interactions with the environment, and measurements) is also discussed.

Incoherent control of locally controllable quantum systems

An incoherent control scheme for state control of locally controllable quantum systems is proposed. This scheme includes three steps: (1) amplitude amplification of the initial state by a suitable unitary transformation, (2) projective measurement of the amplified state, and (3) final optimization by a unitary controlled transformation. The first step increases the amplitudes of some desired eigenstates and the corresponding probability of observing these eigenstates, the second step projects, with high probability, the amplified state into a desired eigenstate, and the last step steers this eigenstate into the target state. Within this scheme, two control algorithms are presented for two classes of quantum systems. As an example, the incoherent control scheme is applied to the control of a hydrogen atom by an external field. The results support the suggestion that projective measurements can serve as an effective control and local controllability information can be used to design control laws for quantum systems. Thus, this scheme establishes a subtle connection between control design and controllability analysis of quantum systems and provides an effective engineering approach in controlling quantum systems with partial controllability information.

Teaching the environment to control quantum systems

A nonequilibrium, generally time-dependent, environment whose form is deduced by optimal learning control is shown to provide a means for incoherent manipulation of quantum systems. Incoherent control by the environment (ICE) can serve to steer a system from an initial state to a target state, either mixed or in some cases pure, by exploiting dissipative dynamics. Implementing ICE with either incoherent radiation or a gas as the control is explicitly considered, and the environmental control is characterized by its distribution function. Simulated learning control experiments are performed with simple illustrations to find the shape of the optimal nonequilibrium distribution function that best affects the posed dynamical objectives.

Observation-assisted optimal control of quantum dynamics

This paper explores the utility of instantaneous and continuous observations in the optimal control of quantum dynamics. Simulations of the processes are performed on several multilevel quantum systems with the goal of population transfer. Optimal control fields are shown to be capable of cooperating or fighting with observations to achieve a good yield, and the nature of the observations may be optimized to more effectively control the quantum dynamics. Quantum observations also can break dynamical symmetries to increase the controllability of a quantum system. The quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects induced by observations are the key operating principles in these processes. The results indicate that quantum observations can be effective tools in the control of quantum dynamics.

Control landscapes for two-level open quantum systems

A quantum control landscape is defined as the physical objective as a function of the control variables. In this paper, the control landscapes for two-level open quantum systems, whose evolution is described by general completely positive trace-preserving maps (i.e., Kraus maps), are investigated in detail. The objective function, which is the expectation value of a target system operator, is defined on the Stiefel manifold representing the space of Kraus maps. Three practically important properties of the objective function are found: (a) the absence of local maxima or minima (i.e., false traps), (b) the existence of multi-dimensional sub-manifolds of optimal solutions corresponding to the global maximum and minimum and (c) the connectivity of each level set. All of the critical values and their associated critical sub-manifolds are explicitly found for any initial system state. Away from the absolute extrema there are no local maxima or minima, and only saddles may exist, whose number and the explicit structure of the corresponding critical sub-manifolds are determined by the initial system state. There are no saddles for pure initial states, one saddle for a completely mixed initial state, and two saddles for partially mixed initial states. In general, the landscape analysis of critical points and optimal manifolds is relevant to explain the relative ease of obtaining good optimal control outcomes in the laboratory, even in the presence of the environment.

Control of quantum dynamics by optimized measurements

Quantum measurements are considered for optimal control of quantum dynamics with instantaneous and continuous observations utilized to manipulate population transfer. With an optimal set of measurements, the highest yield in a two-level system can be obtained. The analytical solution is given for the problem of population transfer by measurement-assisted coherent control in a three-level system with a dynamical symmetry. The anti-Zeno effect is recovered in the controlled processes. The demonstrations in the paper show that suitable observations can be powerful tools in the manipulation of quantum dynamics.

Universal characteristics of chemical synthesis and property optimization

A common goal in chemistry is to optimize a synthesis yield or the properties of a synthesis product by searching over a suitable set of variables (e.g., reagents, solvents, reaction temperature, etc.). Synthesis and property optimizations are regularly performed, yet simple reasoning implies that meeting these goals should be exceedingly difficult due to the large numbers of possible variable combinations that may be tested. This paper resolves this conundrum by showing that the explanation lies in the inherent attractive topology of the fitness landscape specifying the synthesis yield or property value as a function of the variables. Under simple physical assumptions, the landscape is shown to contain no suboptimal local extrema that could act as traps on the way to the optimal outcome. The literature contains broad evidence supporting this “OptiChem” theory. OptiChem theory implies that increasing the number of variables employed should result in more efficient and effective optimization, contrary to intuition.