We provide rigorous bounds for the error of the adiabatic approximation of quantum mechanics under four sources of experimental error: perturbations in the initial condition, systematic time-dependent perturbations in the Hamiltonian, coupling to low-energy quantum systems, and decoherent time-dependent perturbations in the Hamiltonian. For decoherent perturbations, we find both upper and lower bounds on the evolution time to guarantee the adiabatic approximation performs within a prescribed tolerance. Our new results include explicit definitions of constants, and we apply them to the spin-1/2 particle in a rotating magnetic field, and to the superconducting flux qubit. We compare the theoretical bounds on the superconducting flux qubit to simulation results.
We show that in a quantum adiabatic evolution, even though the adiabatic approximation is valid, the total phase of the final state indicated by the adiabatic theorem may evidently differ from the actual total phase. This invalidates the application of the linearity and the adiabatic approximation simultaneously. Besides, based on this observation we point out the mistake in the traditional proof for the adiabatic theorem. This mistake is the root of the troubles that the adiabatic theorem has met. We also show that a similar mistake remains in some recent modifications of the traditional adia…
The adiabatic evolution is the dynamics of an instantaneous eigenstate of a slowly varing Hamiltonian. Recently, an interesting phenomenon shows up that white noises can enhance and even induce adiabaticity, which is in contrast to previous perception that environmental noises always modify and even ruin a designed adiabatic passage. We experimentally realized a noise-induced adiabaticity in a nuclear magnetic resonance system. Adiabatic Hadamard gate and entangled state are demonstrated. The effect of noise on adiabaticity is experimentally exhibited and compared with the noise-free process. …
The consistency of quantum adiabatic theorem has been doubted recently. It is shown in the present paper that the difference between the adiabatic solution and the exact solution to the Schrodinger equation with a slowly changing driving Hamiltonian is small; while the difference between their time derivatives is not small. This explains why substituting the adiabatic solution back into Schrodinger equation leads to "inconsisitency" of the adiabatic theorem. Physics is determined completely by the state vector, and not by its time drivative. Therefore the quantum adiabatic theorem is physicall…
We present a simple and pedagogical derivation of the quantum adiabatic theorem for two level systems (a single qubit) based on geometrical structures of quantum mechanics developed by Anandan and Aharonov, among others. We have chosen to use only the minimum geometric structure needed for an understanding of the adiabatic theorem for this case.
In this paper, we note that there are two different types of inconsistencies of quantum adiabatic theorem in work of K. P. Marzlin and B. C. Sanders [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160408, 2004], MS inconsistency and MS counterexample. Nevertheless, these two types are often confused as one by many authors. We shall point out that the inconsistencies of quantum adiabatic theorem raised by the relevant references just can be classified as these two types.
In this paper,we present a rigorous demonstration and discussion of the quantum adiabatic theorem for systems having a non degenerate continuous spectrum. A new strategy is initiated by defining a kind of gap, "a virtual gap", for the continuous spectrum through the notion of eigendifferential (Weyl's packet) and using the differential projector operator. Finally we obtain the validity condition of the adiabatic approximation.
Adiabatic quantum computation, based on the adiabatic theorem, is a promising alternative to conventional quantum computation. The validity of an adiabatic algorithm depends on the existence of a nonzero energy gap between the ground and excited states. However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact value of the energy gap. In this paper, we put forward a theorem on the existence of nonzero energy gap for the Hamiltonians used in adiabatic quantum computation. It can help to effectively identify a large class of the Hamiltonians without energy-level crossing between the ground and excited sta…
The quantum adiabatic theorem states that if a quantum system starts in an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, and this Hamiltonian varies sufficiently slowly, the system stays in this eigenstate. We investigate experimentally the conditions that must be fulfilled for this theorem to hold. We show that the traditional adiabatic condition as well as some conditions that were recently suggested are either not sufficient or not necessary. Experimental evidence is presented by a simple experiment using nuclear spins.
Adiabatic passage employs a slowly varying time-dependent Hamiltonian to control the evolution of a quantum system along the Hamiltonian eigenstates. For processes of finite duration, the exact time evolving state may deviate from the adiabatic eigenstate at intermediate times, but in numerous applications it is observed that this deviation reaches a maximum and then decreases significantly towards the end of the process. We provide a straightforward theoretical explanation for this welcome but often unappreciated fact. Our analysis emphasizes a separate adiabaticity criterion for high fidelit…
The adiabatic theorem states that if we prepare a quantum system in one of the instantaneous eigenstates then the quantum number is an adiabatic invariant and the state at a later time is equivalent to the instantaneous eigenstate at that time apart from phase factors. Recently, Marzlin and Sanders have pointed out that this could lead to apparent violation of unitarity. We resolve the Marzlin-Sanders inconsistency within the quantum adiabatic theorem. Yet, our resolution points to another inconsistency, namely, that the cyclic as well as non-cyclic adiabatic Berry phases may vanish under stri…
The adiabatic theorem states that an initial eigenstate of a slowly varying Hamiltonian remains close to an instantaneous eigenstate of the Hamiltonian at a later time. We show that a perfunctory application of this statement is problematic if the change in eigenstate is significant, regardless of how closely the evolution satisfies the requirements of the adiabatic theorem. We also introduce an example of a two-level system with an exactly solvable evolution to demonstrate the inapplicability of the adiabatic approximation for a particular slowly varying Hamiltonian.
The recent discovery of inconsistency (MS inconsistency) in the adiabatic approximation is discussed. In particular, the so-called, inconsistency in Berry phase is analyzed. On the contrary to some authors, we found that the MS inconsistency persisted and the so-called inconsistency in Berry phase does not exist.
The unitary operator corresponding to the classical canonical transformation that connects a general closed system to an open system under adiabatic conditions is found. The quantum invariant operator of the adiabatic open system is derived from the unitary transformation of the quantum Hamiltonian of the closed system. On the basis of these results, we investigate the evolution of the general quantum adiabatic system and construct a revised adiabatic theorem. The adiabatic theorem developed here exactly reduces to the well-known Berry adiabatic theorem when the control parameter
We review the quantum adiabatic approximation for closed systems, and its recently introduced generalization to open systems (M.S. Sarandy and D.A. Lidar, e-print quant-ph/0404147). We also critically examine a recent argument claiming that there is an inconsistency in the adiabatic theorem for closed quantum systems [K.P. Marzlin and B.C. Sanders, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160408 (2004)] and point out how an incorrect manipulation of the adiabatic theorem may lead one to obtain such an inconsistent result.
We show that a noncyclic phase of geometric origin has to be included in the approximate adiabatic wave function. The adiabatic noncyclic geometric phase for systems exhibiting a conical intersection as well as for an Aharonov-Bohm situation is worked out in detail. A spin-1/2 experiment to measure the adiabatic noncyclic geometric phase is discussed. We also analyze some misconceptions in the literature and textbooks concerning noncyclic geometric phases.
The adiabatic theorem addresses the dynamics of a target instantaneous eigenstate of a time-dependent Hamiltonian. We use a Feshbach P-Q partitioning technique to derive a closed one-component integro-differential equation. The resultant equation properly traces the footprint of the target eigenstate. The physical significance of the derived dynamical equation is illustrated by both general analysis and concrete examples. Surprisingly, we find an anomalous phenomenon showing that a dephasing white noise can enhance and even induce adiabaticity. This new phenomenon may naturally occur in many p…
We study the decay of quantum nonlocality, identified by the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality, for two noninteracting Josephson qubits subject to independent baths with broadband spectra typical of solid state nanodevices. The bath noise can be separated in an adiabatic (low-frequency) and in a quantum (high-frequency) part. We point out the qualitative different effects on quantum nonlocal correlations induced by adiabatic and quantum noise. A quantitaive analysis is performed for typical noise figures in Josephson systems. Finally we compare, for this system…
The adiabatic theorem provides the basis for the adiabatic model of quantum computation. Recently the conditions required for the adiabatic theorem to hold have become a subject of some controversy. Here we show that the reported violations of the adiabatic theorem all arise from resonant transitions between energy levels. In the absence of fast driven oscillations the traditional adiabatic theorem holds. Implications for adiabatic quantum computation is discussed.
Besides the traditional circuit-based model of quantum computation, several quantum algorithms based on a continuous-time Hamiltonian evolution have recently been introduced, including for instance continuous-time quantum walk algorithms as well as adiabatic quantum algorithms. Unfortunately, very little is known today on the behavior of these Hamiltonian algorithms in the presence of noise. Here, we perform a fully analytical study of the resistance to noise of these algorithms using perturbation theory combined with a theoretical noise model based on random matrices drawn from the Gaussian O…
We present a detailed derivation of the master equation describing a general time-dependent quantum system with classical Poisson white noise and outline its various properties. We discuss the limiting cases of Poisson white noise and provide approximations for the different noise strength regimes. We show that using the eigenstates of the noise superoperator as a basis can be a useful way of expressing the master equation. Using this we simulate various settings to illustrate different effects of Poisson noise. In particular, we show a dip in the fidelity as a function of noise strength where…
We numerically simulate the effects of noise-induced sampling of alternative Hamiltonian paths on the ability of quantum adiabatic search (QuAdS) to solve randomly generated instances of the NP-Complete problem N-bit Exact Cover 3. The noise-averaged median runtime is determined as the noise-power and number of bits N are varied, and power-law and exponential fits are made to the data. Noise is seen to slowdown QuAdS, though a downward shift in the scaling exponent is found for N > 12 over a range of noise-power values. We discuss whether this shift might be connected to arguments in the liter…
We present a new theorem describing stable solutions for a driven quantum system. The theorem, coined `inertial theorem', is applicable for fast driving, provided the acceleration rate is small. The theorem states that in the inertial limit eigenoperators of the propagator remain invariant throughout the dynamics, accumulating dynamical and geometric phases. The proof of the theorem utilizes the structure of Liouville space and a closed Lie algebra of operators. We demonstrate applications of the theorem by studying three explicit solutions of a harmonic oscillator, a two-level and three-level…
We investigate the symmetry breaking role of noise in adiabatic quantum computing using the example of the CNOT gate. In particular, we analyse situations where the choice of initial configuration leads to symmetries in the Hamiltonian and degeneracies in the spectrum. We show that, in these situations, there exists an optimal level of noise that maximises the success probability and the fidelity of the final state. The effects of an artificial noise source with a time-dependent amplitude are also explored and it is found that such a scheme would offer a considerable performance enhancement.
A consensus that questions the perfunctory use of the quantum adiabatic theorem has emerged since Marzlin and Sanders [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 93}, 160408 (2004)] showed the existence of an inconsistency in the applicability of the theorem. Further analysis proved that the inconsistency may arise from the existence of resonant terms in the Hamiltonian, but recent work indicates that the debate about the full extent of the problem remains open. Here, we first show that key premises required in the standard demonstration of the theorem do not hold for a dual Hamiltonian involved in the Marzlin-San…
We prove the existence of a unitary transformation that enables two arbitrarily given Hamiltonians in the same Hilbert space to be transformed into one another. The result is straightforward yet, for example, it lays the foundation to implementing or mimicking dynamics with the most controllable Hamiltonian. As a promising application, this existence theorem allows for a rapidly evolving realization of adiabatic quantum computation by transforming a Hamiltonian where dynamics is in the adiabatic regime into a rapidly evolving one. We illustrate the theorem with examples.
A discretized version of the adiabatic theorem is described with the help of a rule relating a Hermitian operator to its expectation value and variance. The simple initial operator X with known ground state is transformed in a series of N small steps into a more complicated final operator Z with unknown ground state. Each operator along the discretised path in the space of Hermitian matrices is used to measure the state, initially the ground state of X. Measurements similar to the Zeno effect or Renninger's negative measurements modify the state incrementally. This process eventually leads to …
Realizing leakage elimination operator-based adiabatic speedup on a superconducting quantum processor
College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Ocean University of China（中国海洋大学物理与光电工程学院）；China Mobile (Suzhou) Software Technology Co., Ltd（中国移动（苏州）软件技术有限公司）；School of Sciences, Qingdao University of Technology（青岛理工大学理学院）
Recently, several approaches to solving linear systems on a quantum computer have been formulated in terms of the quantum adiabatic theorem for a continuously varying Hamiltonian. Such approaches enabled near-linear scaling in the condition number $κ$ of the linear system, without requiring a complicated variable-time amplitude amplification procedure. However, the most efficient of those procedures is still asymptotically sub-optimal by a factor of $\log(κ)$. Here, we prove a rigorous form of the adiabatic theorem that bounds the error in terms of the spectral gap for intrinsically discrete t…
Results are presented of a large-scale simulation of the quantum adiabatic search (QuAdS) algorithm in the presence of noise. The algorithm is applied to the NP-Complete problem Exact Cover 3 (EC3). The noise is assumed to Zeeman-couple to the qubits and its effects on the algorithm's performance is studied for various levels of noise power, and for 4 different types of noise polarization. We examine the scaling relation between the number of bits N (EC3 problem size) and the algorithm's noise-averaged median run-time <T(N)>. Clear evidence is found of the algorithm's sensitivity to noise. Two…
The success of adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) depends crucially on the ability to maintain the quantum computer in the ground state of the evolution Hamiltonian. The computation process has to be sufficiently slow as restricted by the minimal energy gap. However, at finite temperatures, it might need to be fast enough to avoid thermal excitations. The question is, how fast does it need to be? The structure of evolution Hamiltonians for AQC is generally too complicated for answering this question. Here we model an adiabatic quantum computer as a (parametrically driven) harmonic oscillator.…
Marzlin and Sanders \cite{marzlin} have shown rigorously that the adiabatic approximation can be very inaccurate when applied to a Hamiltonian $H(t)$ that generates the evolution $U^{\dagger} (t)$ even if it gives an excellent approximation to the evolution $U(t)$ generated by a dual Hamiltonian $h(t)$. We show that this is not inconsistent with the adiabatic theorem and find that in general even if $h(t)$ satisfies the conditions of the adiabatic theorem, $H(t)$ will likely violate those conditions.
We study quantum adiabatic dynamics, where the slowly moving field is influenced by system's state (feedback). The information for the feedback is gained from non-disturbating measurements done on an ensemble of identical non-interacting systems. The situation without feedback is governed by the adiabatic theorem: adiabatic energy level populations stay constant, while the adiabatic eigenvectors get a specific phase contribution (Berry phase). However, under feedback the adiabatic theorem does not hold: the adiabatic populations satisfy a closed equation of motion that coincides with the repli…
In this paper, we study the fast and noise-resistant population transfer, quantum entangled states preparation, and quantum entangled states' transition by constructing the shortcuts to adiabatic passage (STAP) for multiparticle based on the approach of "Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants" in distant cavity quantum electronic dynamics (QED) system. Numerical simulation demonstrates that all of the schemes are fast and robust against the decoherence caused by atomic spontaneous emission and photon leakage. Moreover, not only the total operation time but also the robustness in each scheme against decoh…
We analyze the production of entropy along non-equilibrium processes in quantum systems coupled to generic environments. First, we show that the entropy production due to final measurements and the loss of correlations obeys a fluctuation theorem in detailed and integral forms. Second, we discuss the decomposition of the entropy production into two positive contributions, adiabatic and non-adiabatic, based on the existence of invariant states of the local dynamics. Fluctuation theorems for both contributions hold only for evolutions verifying a specific condition of quantum origin. We illustra…
We iteratively apply a recently formulated adiabatic theorem for the strong-coupling limit in finite-dimensional quantum systems. This allows us to improve approximations to a perturbed dynamics, beyond the standard approximation based on quantum Zeno dynamics and adiabatic elimination. The effective generators describing the approximate evolutions are endowed with the same block structure as the unperturbed part of the generator, and exhibit adiabatic evolutions. This iterative adiabatic theorem reveals that adiabaticity holds eternally, that is, the system evolves within each eigenspace of t…
Computing using a continuous-time evolution, based on the natural interaction Hamiltonian of the quantum computer hardware, is a promising route to building useful quantum computers in the near-term. Adiabatic quantum computing, quantum annealing, computation by continuous-time quantum walk, and special purpose quantum simulators all use this strategy. In this work, we carry out a detailed examination of adiabatic and quantum walk implementation of the quantum search algorithm, using the more physically realistic hypercube connectivity, rather than the complete graph, for our base Hamiltonian.…
We exploit a microscopically derived master equation for the study of STIRAP in the presence of decay from the auxiliary level toward the initial and final state, and compare our results with the predictions obtained from a phenomenological model previously used [P. A. Ivanov, N. V. Vitanov, and K. Bergmann, Phys. Rev. A 72, 053412 (2005)]. It is shown that our approach predicts a much higher efficiency. The effects of temperature are also taken into account, proving that in b-STIRAP thermal pumping can increase the efficiency of the population transfer.
In this paper, we attempt to give a sufficient condition of guaranteeing the validity of the proof of the quantum adiabatic theorem. The new sufficient condition can clearly remove the inconsistency and the counterexample of the quantum adiabatic theorem pointed out by Marzlin and Sanders [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160408, (2004)].
A new simple proof of the adiabatic theorem is given in the finite dimensional case for nondegenerate as well as degenerate states. The explicitly integrable two level system is considered as an example. It is demonstrated that the error estimate given by the adiabatic theorem can not be improved.
Quantum adiabatic evolutions find a broad range of applications in quantum physics and quantum technologies. The traditional form of the quantum adiabatic theorem limits the speed of adiabatic evolution by the minimum energy gaps of the system Hamiltonian. Here, we experimentally show using a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond that, even in the presence of vanishing energy gaps, quantum adiabatic evolution is possible. This verifies a recently derived necessary and sufficient quantum adiabatic theorem and offers paths to overcome the conventionally assumed constraints on adiabatic methods. By …
We prove a robust extension of the quantum adiabatic theorem. The theorem applies to systems that have resonances instead of bound states, and to systems for which just an approximation to a bound state is known. To demonstrate the theorem's usefulness in a concrete situation, we apply it to shape resonances.
A proof of the adiabatic theorem for quantum systems whose time evolution proceeds along discrete time, e.g., quantum maps and quantum circuits, is shown.
A quantum particle in a slowly-changing potential well $V(x,t)=V(x-x_0(εt))$, periodically shaken in time at a slow frequency $ε$, provides an important quantum mechanical system where the adiabatic theorem fails to predict the asymptotic dynamics over time scales longer than $ \sim 1 / ε$. Specifically, we consider a double-well potential $V(x)$ sustaining two bound states spaced in frequency by $ω_0$ and periodically-shaken in complex plane. Two different spatial displacements $x_0(t)$ are assumed: the real spatial displacement $x_0(εt)=A \sin (εt)$, corresponding to ordinary Hermitian shaki…
We study entanglement degradation of two non-interacting qubits subject to independent baths with broadband spectra typical of solid state nanodevices. We obtain the analytic form of the concurrence in the presence of adiabatic noise for classes of entangled initial states presently achievable in experiments. We find that adiabatic (low frequency) noise affects entanglement reduction analogously to pure dephasing noise. Due to quantum (high frequency) noise, entanglement is totally lost in a state-dependent finite time. The possibility to implement on-chip both local and entangling operations …
Many areas of physics rely upon adiabatic state transfer protocols, allowing a quantum state to be moved between different physical systems for storage and retrieval or state manipulation. However, these state-transfer protocols suffer from dephasing and dissipation. In this thesis we go beyond the standard open-systems treatment of quantum dissipation allowing us to consider non-Markovian environments. We use adiabatic perturbation theory in order to give analytic descriptions for various quantum state-transfer protocols. The leading-order corrections will give rise to additional terms adding…
The condition for adiabatic approximation are of basic importance for the applications of the adiabatic theorem. The traditional quantitative condition was found to be necessary but not sufficient, but we do not know its physical meaning and the reason why it is necessary from the physical point of view. In this work, we relate the adiabatic theorem to the uncertainty relation, and present a clear physical picture of the traditional quantitative condition. It is shown that the quantitative condition is just the amplitude of the probability of transition between two levels in the time interval …
The adiabatic theorem and "shortcuts to adiabaticity" for the adiabatic dynamics of time-dependent decoherence-free subspaces are explored in this paper. Starting from the definition of the dynamical stable decoherence-free subspaces, we show that, under a compact adiabatic condition, the quantum state follows time-dependent decoherence-free subspaces (the adiabatic decoherence free subspaces) into the target subspace with extremely high purity, even though the dynamics of the quantum system may be non-adiabatic. The adiabatic condition mentioned in the adiabatic theorem is very similar with t…
