Xin-Qi Li

Generating and stabilizing the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state in circuit QED: Joint measurement, Zeno effect, and feedback

In a solid-state circuit QED system, we extend the previous study of generating and stabilizing a two-qubit Bell state [Phys. Rev. A 82, 032335 (2010)] to a three-qubit GHZ state. In a dispersive regime, we employ the homodyne joint readout for multiple qubits to infer the state for further processing, and in particular we use it to stabilize the state directly by means of an alternate-flip-interrupted Zeno (AFIZ) scheme. Moreover, the state-of-the-art feedback action based on the filtered current enables not only a deterministic generation of the pre-GHZ state in the initial stage, but also a fast recovery from occasional error in the later stabilization process. We show that the proposed scheme can maintain the state with high fidelity if the efficient quantum measurement and rapid single-qubit rotations are available.

Simple understanding of quantum weak values

In this work we revisit the important and controversial concept of quantum weak values, aiming to provide a simplified understanding to its associated physics and the origin of anomaly. Taking the Stern-Gerlach setup as a working system, we base our analysis on an exact treatment in terms of quantum Bayesian approach. We also make particular connection with a very recent work, where the anomaly of the weak values was claimed from the pure statistics in association with “disturbance” and “post-selection”, rather than the unique quantum nature. Our analysis resolves the related controversies through a clear and quantitative way.

Quantum Bayesian rule for weak measurements of qubits in superconducting circuit QED

Compared with the quantum trajectory equation (QTE), the quantum Bayesian approach has the advantage of being more efficient to infer a quantum state under monitoring, based on the integrated output of measurements. For weak measurement of qubits in circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED), properly accounting for the measurement backaction effects within the Bayesian framework is an important problem of current interest. Elegant work towards this task was carried out by Korotkov in ‘bad-cavity’ and weak-response limits (Korotkov 2011 Quantum Bayesian approach to circuit QED measurement (arXiv:1111.4016)). In the present work, based on insights from the cavity-field states (dynamics) and the help of an effective QTE, we generalize the results of Korotkov to more general system parameters. The obtained Bayesian rule is in full agreement with Korotkovʼs result in limiting cases and as well holds satisfactory accuracy in non-limiting cases in comparison with the QTE simulations. We expect the proposed Bayesian rule to be useful for future cQED measurement and control experiments.

Exact quantum Bayesian rule for qubit measurements in circuit QED

Developing efficient framework for quantum measurements is of essential importance to quantum science and technology. In this work, for the important superconducting circuit-QED setup, we present a rigorous and analytic solution for the effective quantum trajectory equation (QTE) after polaron transformation and converted to the form of Stratonovich calculus. We find that the solution is a generalization of the elegant quantum Bayesian approach developed in arXiv:1111.4016 by Korotokov and currently applied to circuit-QED measurements. The new result improves both the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the qubit density matrix, via amending the distribution probabilities of the output currents and several important phase factors. Compared to numerical integration of the QTE, the resultant quantum Bayesian rule promises higher efficiency to update the measured state, and allows more efficient and analytical studies for some interesting problems such as quantum weak values, past quantum state, and quantum state smoothing. The method of this work opens also a new way to obtain quantum Bayesian formulas for other systems and in more complicated cases.

Weak values in continuous weak measurements of qubits

For continuous weak measurement of qubits, we obtain exact expressions for weak values (WVs) from the post-selection restricted average of measurement outputs, by using both the quantumtrajectory- equation (QTE) and quantum Bayesian approach. The former is applicable to short-time weak measurement, while the latter can relax the measurement strength to finite. We find that even in the very weak limit the result can be essentially different from the one originally proposed by Aharonov, Albert and Vaidman (AAV), in a sense that our result incorporates non-perturbative correction which could be important when the AAVs WV is large. Within the Bayesian framework, we obtain also elegant expressions for finite measurement strength and find that the amplifiers noise in quantum measurement has no effect on the WVs. In particular, we obtain very useful result for homodyne measurement in circuit-QED system, which allows for measuring the real and imaginary parts of the AAVs WV by simply tuning the phase of the local oscillator. This advantage can be exploited as efficient state-tomography technique.

Qubit state tomography in a superconducting circuit via weak measurements

The standard method of measuring quantum wavefunction is the technique of {it indirect} quantum state tomography. Owing to conceptual novelty and possible advantages, an alternative {it direct} scheme was proposed and demonstrated recently in quantum optics system. In this work we present a study on the direct scheme of measuring qubit state in the circuit QED system, based on weak measurement and weak value concepts. To be applied to generic parameter conditions, our formulation and analysis are carried out for finite strength weak measurement, and in particular beyond the bad-cavity and weak-response limits. The proposed study is accessible to the present state-of-the-art circuit-QED experiments.

Quantum trajectories under frequent measurements in a non-Markovian environment

In this work we generalize the quantum trajectory (QT) theory from Markovian to non-Markovian environments. We model the non-Markovian environment by using a Lorentzian spectral density function with bandwidth

Gradual partial-collapse theory for ideal nondemolition measurements of qubits in circuit QED

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Corrigendum: Quantum Bayesian rule for weak measurements of qubits in superconducting circuit QED (2014 New J. Phys. 16 123047)

, and find a perfect ``scaling property with the measurement frequency

Quantum estimation of parameter in circuit QED by continuous quantum measurement.

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