One-qubit System Research Articles

Dynamical theory of single-photon transport through a qubit chain coupled to a one-dimensional nanophotonic waveguide

We study the dynamics of a single-photon pulse traveling through a linear qubit chain coupled to continuum modes in a one-dimensional (1D) photonic waveguide. We derive a time-dependent dynamical theory for qubits’ amplitudes and for transmitted and reflected spectra. We show that the requirement for the photon-qubit coupling to exist only for positive frequencies can significantly change the dynamics of the system. First, it leads to the additional photon-mediated dipole-dipole interaction between qubits which results in the violation of the phase coherence between them. Second, the spectral lines of transmitted and reflected spectra crucially depend on the shape of the incident pulse and on the initial distance between the pulse center and the first qubit in the chain. We apply our theory to one-qubit and two-qubit systems. For these cases we obtain the explicit expressions for the qubits’ amplitudes and for the photon radiation spectra as time tends to infinity. Specific calculations are performed for superconducting qubits operating in GHz frequency range. For the incident Gaussian wave packet we calculate the line shapes of transmitted and reflected photons.

Continuous quantum clock with high precision and long recurrence time

Continuous clocks, i.e., clocks that measure time in a continuous manner, are regarded as an essential component of sensing technology. Precision and recurrence time are two basic features of continuous clocks. In this paper, in the framework of quantum estimation theory various models for continuous quantum clocks are proposed, and all tools of quantum estimation theory are employed to seek the characteristics of clocks with high precision and long recurrence time. Then, in a resource-based approach, the performances of the proposed models are compared. It is shown that quantum clocks based on an $n$ two-qubit system not only can have better precision than quantum clocks based on a $2n$ one-qubit system but also support long recurrence time. Finally, it is shown that while employing $n$ entangled qubits improves the precision of clocks by a factor of $1/\sqrt{n}$, it inevitably worsens the recurrence time of the clock.

Single-qubit universal classifier implemented on an ion-trap quantum device

Quantum computers can provide solutions to certain classically intractable problems. However, current devices have limited computational resources, and an effort is made to develop useful quantum algorithms under this constraint. This work demonstrates experimentally that a single-qubit processor can host a universal classifier based on the re-uploading scheme. The quantum processor used in this work is built with an ion trap, providing highly accurate control on a one-qubit system as required by the re-uploading scheme. A set of nontrivial classification tasks are completed successfully. The training procedure is performed in two steps combining simulation and experiment. Final results are benchmarked against exact simulations of the same method and also classical algorithms, showing a competitive performance of the ion-trap quantum classifier. This work constitutes the experimental implementation of a classification algorithm based on the re-uploading scheme.

Perfect discrimination of quantum measurements using entangled systems

Distinguishing physical processes is one of the fundamental problems in quantum physics. Although distinguishability of quantum preparations and quantum channels have been studied considerably, distinguishability of quantum measurements remains largely unexplored. We investigate the problem of single-shot discrimination of quantum measurements using two strategies, one based on single quantum systems and the other one based on entangled quantum systems. First, we formally define both scenarios. We then construct sets of measurements (including non-projective) in arbitrary finite dimensions that are perfectly distinguishable within the second scenario using quantum entanglement, while not in the one based on single quantum systems. Furthermore, we show that any advantage in measurement discrimination tasks over single systems is a demonstration of Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen ‘quantum steering’. Alongside, we prove that all pure two-qubit entangled states provide an advantage in a measurement discrimination task over one-qubit systems.

Strictly incoherent operations for one-qubit systems

Strictly incoherent operations (SIO) proposed in Winter and Yang (2016) [13] are promising to be a good candidate of free operations in the resource theory of quantum coherence, setting against the central role of local operations and classical communication in the resource theory of quantum entanglement. An important open problem for SIOs is to find minimal parametrization with operational efficiency. Such a description plays key role for axiomatic study of resource theory of quantum coherence. We are aimed to give a structural characterization of bistochastic SIOs in terms of Pauli operators and the Phase operator for one-qubit systems. Some applications of our results are also sketched in reconstructing quantum thermal averages via a quantum computer and in coherence manipulation.

Collective performance of a finite-time quantum Otto cycle.

We study the finite-time effects in a quantum Otto cycle where a collective spin system is used as the working fluid. Starting from a simple one-qubit system we analyze the transition to the limit cycle in the case of a finite-time thermalization. If the system consists of a large sample of independent qubits interacting coherently with the heat bath, then the super-radiant equilibration is observed. We show that this phenomenon can boost the power of the engine. Mutual interaction of qubits in the working fluid is modeled by the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Hamiltonian. We demonstrate that in this case the quantum phase transitions for the ground and excited states may have a strong negative effect on the performance of the machine. Conversely, by analyzing the work output we can distinguish between the operational regimes with and without a phase transition.

Maximal Coherence in a Pre-Selected Basis

Since quantum coherence is viewed as a valuable resource for quantum information processing, its quantification and application has long been a topic of concern. And in framework of a resource theory of quantum coherence, quantum coherence is a basis-dependent quantity. Accordingly, when a basis is selected ahead of time, a natural question is raised: not all one-qubit systems can evolve to the maximally coherent state, so what determines the coherence of a system can evolve to the maximum? Base on the parameters of Hamiltonian we propose a criterion by which one can easily judge whether the coherence of one-qubit system can evolve to the maximum. Moreover, we show commutation relation between the operators for observation corresponding to pre-selected basis and Hamiltonian can be used to judge whether coherence of one-qubit system can evolve to the maximum.

Model dynamics for quantum computing

A model master equation suitable for quantum computing dynamics is presented. In an ideal quantum computer (QC), a system of qubits evolves in time unitarily and, by virtue of their entanglement, interfere quantum mechanically to solve otherwise intractable problems. In the real situation, a QC is subject to decoherence and attenuation effects due to interaction with an environment and with possible short-term random disturbances and gate deficiencies. The stability of a QC under such attacks is a key issue for the development of realistic devices. We assume that the influence of the environment can be incorporated by a master equation that includes unitary evolution with gates, supplemented by a Lindblad term. Lindblad operators of various types are explored; namely, steady, pulsed, gate friction, and measurement operators. In the master equation, we use the Lindblad term to describe short time intrusions by random Lindblad pulses. The phenomenological master equation is then extended to include a nonlinear Beretta term that describes the evolution of a closed system with increasing entropy. An external Bath environment is stipulated by a fixed temperature in two different ways. Here we explore the case of a simple one-qubit system in preparation for generalization to multi-qubit, qutrit and hybrid qubit–qutrit systems. This model master equation can be used to test the stability of memory and the efficacy of quantum gates. The properties of such hybrid master equations are explored, with emphasis on the role of thermal equilibrium and entropy constraints. Several significant properties of time-dependent qubit evolution are revealed by this simple study.

Robust manipulation of superconducting qubits in the presence of fluctuations.

Superconducting quantum systems are promising candidates for quantum information processing due to their scalability and design flexibility. However, the existence of defects, fluctuations, and inaccuracies is unavoidable for practical superconducting quantum circuits. In this paper, a sampling-based learning control (SLC) method is used to guide the design of control fields for manipulating superconducting quantum systems. Numerical results for one-qubit systems and coupled two-qubit systems show that the “smart” fields learned using the SLC method can achieve robust manipulation of superconducting qubits, even in the presence of large fluctuations and inaccuracies.

Nakajima-Zwanzig and Time-Convolutionless Master Equations for a One-Qubit System in a Non-Markovian Layered Environment

Quantum operations, are completely positive (CP) and trace preserving (TP) maps on quantum states, and can be represented by operator-sum or Kraus representations. In this paper, we calculate operator-sum representation and master equation of one-qubit open quantum system in layered environment which is a generalized spin star model. The Nakajima-Zwanzig and time-convolutionless projection operators technique are applied for deriving the master equations. Finally, a simple example will be studied to consider the relation between completely positive maps and initial quantum correlation and show that vanishing quantum discord is not necessary for CP maps.

Determining ann-qubit state by a single apparatus through a pairwise interaction

This paper shows how one can reconstruct an unknown $n$-qubit state by only a single apparatus. Its core is a redistribution of the information within an extended Hilbert space by coupling the unknown system with an assistant system through only a pairwise interaction, which results in a one-to-one mapping between the unknown density matrix elements and the probabilities of the occurrence of the eigenvalues of a single, factorized observable of the composite system. In such an interaction configuration, which is more feasible in experiments, the quality of the measurement only depends on that of the subsystem consisting a of one-qubit system coupled to a one-qubit assistant. We analyze in detail the performance of this procedure and experimentally implement it for reconstructing an unknown two-qubit state using a four-nuclear-spin system.

Robust control of quantum gates via sequential convex programming

Resource trade-offs can often be established by solving an appropriate robust optimization problem for a variety of scenarios involving constraints on optimization variables and uncertainties. Using an approach based on sequential convex programming, we demonstrate that quantum gate transformations can be made substantially robust against uncertainties while simultaneously using limited resources of control amplitude and bandwidth. Achieving such a high degree of robustness requires a quantitative model that specifies the range and character of the uncertainties. Using a model of a controlled one-qubit system for illustrative simulations, we identify robust control fields for a universal gate set and explore the trade-off between the worst-case gate fidelity and the field fluence. Our results demonstrate that, even for this simple model, there exists a rich variety of control design possibilities. In addition, we study the effect of noise represented by a stochastic uncertainty model.

Geometric aspects of composite pulses

Unitary operations acting on a quantum system must be robust against systematic errors in control parameters for reliable quantum computing. Composite pulse technique in nuclear magnetic resonance realizes such a robust operation by employing a sequence of possibly poor-quality pulses. In this study, we demonstrate that two kinds of composite pulses-one compensates for a pulse length error in a one-qubit system and the other compensates for a J-coupling error in a two-qubit system-have a vanishing dynamical phase and thereby can be seen as geometric quantum gates, which implement unitary gates by the holonomy associated with dynamics of cyclic vectors defined in the text.

Quantum operation for a one-qubit system under a non-Markovian environment

This paper introduces a simple alternating-current (AC) control strategy to perform quantum state manipulations under non-Markovian noise. A genetic algorithm is adopted to optimize the parameters of the AC control, which can be further used to fulfil one-qubit quantum operations at a given final time. Theoretical analysis and simulations show that our method works almost equally well for 1/f noise, ohmic, sub-ohmic and super-ohmic noise, which demonstrates the robustness of our strategy for noise with various spectra. In comparison with the Markovian cases, our method is more suitable to be used to suppress non-Markovian noise.

Geometric Phase with Nonunitary Evolution in the Presence of a Quantum Critical Bath

Geometric phases, arising from cyclic evolutions in a curved parameter space, appear in a wealth of physical settings. Recently, and largely motivated by the need of an experimentally realistic definition for quantum computing applications, the quantum geometric phase was generalized to open systems. The definition takes a kinematical approach, with an initial state that is evolved cyclically but coupled to an environment--leading to a correction of the geometric phase with respect to the uncoupled case. We obtain this correction by measuring the nonunitary evolution of the reduced density matrix of a spin one-half coupled to an environment. In particular we are interested in baths near a quantum phase transition, which are known to induce strong decoherence. The experiments are done with a NMR quantum simulator, where we emulate qualitatively the influence of a critical environment using a simple one-qubit model.

Protecting Coherence and Entanglement by Quantum Feedback Controls

When a quantum system interacts with its environment, the so-called decoherence effect will normally destroy the coherence in the quantum state and the entanglement between its subsystems. We propose a feedback control strategy based on quantum weak measurements to protect coherence and entanglement of the quantum state against environmental disturbance. For a one-qubit quantum system under amplitude damping and dephasing decoherence channels, our strategy can preserve the coherence based on the measured information about the population difference between its two levels. For a two-qubit quantum system disentangled by independent amplitude damping and dephasing decoherence channels, the designed feedback control can preserve coherence between the ground state and the highest excited states by tuning the coupling strength between the two qubits, and at the same time minimize the loss of entanglement between the two qubits. As a consequence of dynamic symmetry, the generalization of these results derives the concept of control-induced decoherence-free observable subspace, for which several criteria are provided.

COHERENCE CONSERVATION OF A QUBIT COUPLED TO A DISSIPATING THERMAL ENVIRONMENT

It is shown that quantum coherence is conserved in a principal system in the case that the system is coupled to a fast dissipating environment [arXiv:0709.0562]. The phenomenon is called the quantum wipe effect. Here, this effect is reviewed and the analytical proof for a model system consisting of a one-qubit system coupled to a fast dissipating environment is extended to an environment at a thermal equilibrium.

Suppression of1/fαnoise in one-qubit systems

We investigate the generation of quantum operations for one-qubit systems under classical Markovian noise with a $1/{f}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ power spectrum, where $2>\ensuremath{\alpha}>0$. We present an efficient way to approximate the noise with a discrete multistate Markovian fluctuator. With this method, the average temporal evolution of the qubit state operator under $1/{f}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ noise can be feasibly determined from recently derived deterministic master equations. We obtain qubit operations such as quantum memory and the NOT gate to high fidelity by a gradient-based optimization algorithm. For the NOT gate, the computed fidelities are qualitatively similar to those obtained earlier for random telegraph noise. In the case of quantum memory, however, we observe a nonmonotonic dependency of the fidelity on the operation time, yielding a natural access rate of the memory.

Asymptotically noise decoupling for Markovian open quantum systems

The noise decoupling problem is investigated for general N-level Markovian open quantum systems. Firstly, the concept of Cartan decomposition of the Lie algebra $su(N)$ is introduced as a tool of designing control Hamiltonians. Next, under certain assumptions, it is shown that a part of variables of the coherence vector of the system density matrix can be asymptotically decoupled from the environmental noises. The resulting noise decoupling scheme is applied to one-qubit, qutrit and two-qubit quantum systems, by which the coherence evolution of the one-qubit and qutrit systems can always be asymptotically preserved, while, for two-qubit systems, our findings indicate that evolution of some variables can be preserved only for some initial states.

Unital quantum operations on the Bloch ball and Bloch region

For one-qubit systems, we present a short, elementary argument characterizing unital quantum operators in terms of their action on Bloch vectors. We then show how our approach generalizes to multiqubit systems, obtaining inequalities that govern when a ``diagonal'' superoperator on the Bloch region is a quantum operator. These inequalities are the n-qubit analog of the Algoet-Fujiwara conditions. Our work is facilitated by an analysis of operator-sum decompositions in which negative summands are allowed.