We report some improvements to the gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) algorithm for optimal control of quantum systems. These include more accurate gradients, convergence acceleration using the BFGS quasi-Newton algorithm as well as faster control derivative calculation algorithms. In all test systems, the wall clock time and the convergence rates show a considerable improvement over the approximate gradient ascent.
Since 2005 there has been a huge growth in the use of engineered control pulses to perform desired quantum operations in systems such as NMR quantum information processors. These approaches, which build on the original gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) algorithm, remain computationally intensive because of the need to calculate matrix exponentials for each time step in the control pulse. Here we discuss how the propagators for each time step can be approximated using the Trotter--Suzuki formula, and a further speed up achieved by avoiding unnecessary operations. The resulting procedure…
The experimental optimization of a two-qubit controlled-Z (CZ) gate is realized following two different data-driven gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) protocols in the aim of optimizing the gate operator and the output quantum state, respectively. For both GRAPE protocols, the key computation of gradients utilizes mixed information of the input Z-control pulse and the experimental measurement. With an imperfect initial pulse in a flattop waveform, our experimental implementation shows that the CZ gate is quickly improved and the gate fidelities subject to the two optimized pulses are ar…
Gradient ascent pulse engineering algorithm (GRAPE) is a typical method to solve quantum optimal control problems. However, it suffers from an exponential resource in computing the time evolution of quantum systems with the increasing number of qubits, which is a barrier for its application in large-qubit systems. To mitigate this issue, we propose an iterative GRAPE algorithm (iGRAPE) for preparing a desired quantum state, where the large-scale, resource-consuming optimization problem is decomposed into a set of lower-dimensional optimization subproblems by disentanglement operations. Consequ…
A gradient ascent method for optimal quantum control synthesis is presented that employs a gradient derived with respect to the coefficients of a functional basis expansion of the control. Restricting the space of allowable controls to weighted sums of the Slepian sequences efficiently parameterizes the control in terms of bandwidth, resolution and pulse duration. A bound showing minimum time evolutions scaling with the inverse of the control bandwidth [S. Lloyd and S. Montangero, PRL, 113, 010502, (2014)] is recovered and the method is shown numerically to achieve the bound on entangling two-…
Quantum Optimal Control Using MAGICARP: Combining Pontryagin's Maximum Principle and Gradient Ascent
Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg UMR-7504 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg（斯特拉斯堡材料与化学物理研究所）；Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院纳米技术研究所）；Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée, UMR 7501 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Inria（斯特拉斯堡大学高级数学研究所）；Institut Élie Cartan de Lorraine, CNRS, Inria, Université de Lorraine（洛林伊莱·嘉当研究所）；Institut Universitaire de France（法兰西学院）
Atom matterwave interferometry requires mirror and beamsplitter pulses that are robust to inhomogeneities in field intensity, magnetic environment, atom velocity and Zeeman sub-state. Pulse shapes determined using quantum control methods offer significantly improved interferometer performance by allowing broader atom distributions, larger interferometer areas and higher contrast. We have applied gradient ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) to optimise the design of phase-modulated mirror pulses for a Mach-Zehnder light-pulse atom interferometer, with the aim of increasing fringe contrast when ave…
We put forward a method for achieving fast and robust for magnetization reversal in a nanomagnet, by combining the inverse engineering and composite pulses. The magnetic fields, generated by microwave with time-dependent frequency, are first designed inversely within short operation time, and composite pulses are further incorporated to improve the fidelity through reducing the effect of magnetic anisotropy. The high-fidelity magnetization reversals are illustrated with numerical examples, and visualized on Bloch sphere. The influence of damping parameters, relevant to the pulse sequence, is f…
We apply reverse-engineering to find electromagnetic pulses that allow for the control of populations in quantum systems under dephasing and thermal noises. In particular, we discuss two-level systems given their importance in the description of several molecular systems as well as quantum computing. Such an investigation naturally finds applications in a multitude of physical situations involving the control of quantum systems. We present an analytical description of the pulse which solves a constrained dynamics where the initial and final populations are fixed a priori. This constrained dyna…
We use the invariant-based inverse engineering subject to the quasiadiabatic condition to produce robust and high fidelity coherent superposition of quantum states. The inverse engineering provides shortcuts to the desired quantum-state evolution while the quasiadiabaticity provides robustness with respect to errors. We derive simple pulses with low areas which are robust with respect to pulse area and detuning.
We propose a scheme to control the evolution of a two-level quantum system in the strong coupling regime based on the idea of reverse-engineering. A coherent control field is designed to drive both closed and open two-level quantum systems along user predefined evolution trajectory without utilizing the rotating-wave approximation (RWA). As concrete examples, we show that complete population inversion, an equally weighted coherent superposition, and even oscillationlike dynamics can be achieved. As there are no limitations on the coupling strength between the control field and matter, the sche…
A non-dispersing wave packet has been attracting much interest from various scientific and technological viewpoints. However, most quantum systems are accompanied by anharmonicity, so that retardation of quantum wave-packet dispersion is limited to very few examples only under specific conditions and targets. Here we demonstrate a conceptually new and universal method to retard or advance the dispersion of a quantum wave packet through 'programmable time shift' induced by a strong non-resonant femtosecond laser pulse. A numerical simulation has verified that a train of such retardation pulses …
We derive an integral expression for the filter-transfer function of an arbitrary one-qubit gate through the use of dynamical invariant theory and Hamiltonian reverse engineering. We use this result to define a cost function which can be efficiently optimized to produce one-qubit control pulses that are robust against specified frequency bands of the noise power spectral density. We demonstrate the utility of our result by generating optimal control pulses that are designed to suppress broadband detuning and pulse amplitude noise. We report an order of magnitude improvement in gate fidelity in…
The double quantum dot device benefits from the advantages of both the spin and charge qubits, while offering ways to mitigate their drawbacks. Careful gate voltage modulation can grant greater spinlike or chargelike dynamics to the device, yielding long coherence times with the former and high electrical susceptibility with the latter for electrically driven spin rotations or coherent interactions with microwave photons. We show that optimal control pulses generated using the GRadient Ascent Pulse Engineering (GRAPE) algorithm can yield higher-fidelity operating regime transfers than can be a…
The development of efficient algorithms that generate robust quantum controls is crucial for the realization of quantum technologies. The commonly used gradient-based optimization algorithms are limited by their sensitivity to the initial guess, which affects their performance. Here we propose combining the gradient method with the simulated annealing technique to formulate a hybrid algorithm. Our numerical analysis confirms its superior convergence rate. Using the hybrid algorithm, we generate spin-selective $π$ pulses and employ them for experimental measurement of local noise-spectra in a t…
A new class of atomic interferences using ultra-narrow optical transitions are pushing quantum engineering control to a very high level of precision for a next generation of sensors and quantum gate operations. In such context, we propose a new quantum engineering approach to Ramsey-Bordé interferometry introducing multiple composite laser pulses with tailored pulse duration, Rabi field amplitude, frequency detuning and laser phase-step. We explore quantum metrology with hyper-Ramsey and hyper-Hahn-Ramsey clocks below the $10^-18$ level of fractional accuracy by a fine tuning control of light …
Optimized Slice-Phase Control of Mirror Pulse in Cold-Atom Interferometry with Finite Response Time
Huazhong University of Science and Technology（华中科技大学）；Wuhan Gravitation and Solid Earth Tides National Observation and Research Station（武汉重力与固体潮国家观测研究站）；Wuhan Institute of Quantum Technology（武汉量子技术研究院）
Quantum computing vendors are beginning to open up application programming interfaces for direct pulse-level quantum control. With this, programmers can begin to describe quantum kernels of execution via sequences of arbitrary pulse shapes. This opens new avenues of research and development with regards to smart quantum compilation routines that enable direct translation of higher-level digital assembly representations to these native pulse instructions. In this work, we present an extension to the XACC system-level quantum-classical software framework that directly enables this compilation lo…
Designing a high-quality control is crucial for reliable quantum computation. Among the existing approaches, closed-loop leaning control is an effective choice. Its efficiency depends on the learning algorithm employed, thus deserving algorithmic comparisons for its practical applications. Here, we assess three representative learning algorithms, including GRadient Ascent Pulse Engineering (GRAPE), improved Nelder-Mead (NMplus) and Differential Evolution (DE), by searching for high-quality control pulses to prepare the Bell state. We first implement each algorithm experimentally in a nuclear m…
Quantum control aims to manipulate quantum systems toward specific quantum states or desired operations. Designing highly accurate and effective control steps is vitally important to various quantum applications, including energy minimization and circuit compilation. In this paper we focus on discrete binary quantum control problems and apply different optimization algorithms and techniques to improve computational efficiency and solution quality. Specifically, we develop a generic model and extend it in several ways. We introduce a squared $L_2$-penalty function to handle additional side cons…
In this work, two experimentally feasible methods of decoherence engineering-one based on the application of stochastic classical kicks and the other based on temporally randomized pulse sequences are combined. A different coupling interaction is proposed, which leads to amplitude damping as compared to existing methods which model phase damping, utilizing the $zz$ coupling interaction. The decoherence process on combining the stochastic kick method and the randomized pulse sequence method and the effectiveness of dynamical decoupling under these coupling interactions are analyzed. Finally, a …
While quantum devices rely on interactions between constituent subsystems and with their environment to operate, native interactions alone often fail to deliver targeted performance. Coherent pulsed control provides the ability to tailor effective interactions, known as Hamiltonian engineering. We propose a Hamiltonian engineering method that maximizes desired interactions while mitigating deleterious ones by conducting a pulse sequence search using constrained optimization. The optimization formulation incorporates pulse sequence length and cardinality penalties consistent with linear or inte…
We proposed a method to engineer the light matter interaction while initializing a qubit in presence of physical constraints utilizing the inverse engineering. Combining the multiple degrees of freedom in the pulse parameters with the perturbation theory, we developed pulses to initialize the qubit within a tightly packed frequency interval to an arbitrary superposition state with high fidelity. Importantly, the initialization induces low off-resonant excitations to the neighboring qubits, and it is robust against the spatial inhomogeneity in the laser intensity. We applied the method to the e…
Engineering dissipation and control pulses for high-fidelity fault-tolerance quantum computing
Fujian Key Laboratory of Quantum Information and Quantum Optics, Fuzhou University（福州大学）；Department of Physics, Fuzhou University（福州大学）；Quantum Information Physics Theory Research Team, Center for Quantum Computing, RIKEN（理化学研究所）；Institute of Quantum Science and Technology, Yanbian University（延边大学）
Quantum state engineering with flux-biased Josephson phase qubits by Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passages
本文提出了一种基于斯塔克啁啾快速绝热通过（SCRAP）技术的量子计算方案[L. F. Wei等人，物理修订版信函100，113601（2008）]被广泛应用于实现磁通偏置约瑟夫森相位量子比特中的量子态操纵。利用磁通偏置约瑟夫森结中束缚态的破宇称对称性，可以方便地产生所需的斯塔克位移。然后，在各种跃迁脉冲的辅助下，可以实现通用的量子逻辑门以及任意的量子态制备。与实验中广泛使用的PI脉冲操作相比，本文提出的绝热粒子数转移方法对脉冲的细节不敏感，从而可以实现理想的粒子数转移。文中还讨论了该方案的实验可行性。
In 1949, Ramsey's method of separated oscillating fields was elaborated boosting over many decades metrological performances of atomic clocks and becoming the standard technique for very high precision spectroscopic measurements. A generalization of this interferometric method is presented replacing the two single coherent excitations by arbitrary composite laser pulses. The rotation of the state vector of a two-level system under the effect of a single pulse is described using the Pauli matrices basis of the SU(2) group. It is then generalized to multiple excitation pulses by a recursive Eule…
Spin Hamiltonian engineering in solid-state systems plays a key role in a variety of applications ranging from quantum information processing and quantum simulations to novel studies of many-body physics. By analyzing the irreducible form of a general two-body spin-1/2 Hamiltonian, we identify all interchangeable interaction terms using rotation pulses. Based on this identification, we derive novel pulse sequences, defined by an icosahedral symmetry group, providing the most general achievable manipulation of interaction terms. We demonstrate that, compared to conventional Clifford rotations, …
The performance requirements for fault-tolerant quantum computing are very stringent. Qubits must be manipulated, coupled, and measured with error rates well below 1%. For semiconductor implementations, silicon quantum dot spin qubits have demonstrated average single-qubit Clifford gate error rates that approach this threshold, notably with error rates of 0.14% in isotopically enriched $^{28}$Si/SiGe devices. This gate performance, together with high-fidelity two-qubit gates and measurements, is only known to meet the threshold for fault-tolerant quantum computing in some architectures when as…
Adiabatic operations are powerful tools for robust quantum control in numerous fields of physics, chemistry and quantum information science. The inherent robustness due to adiabaticity can, however, be impaired in applications requiring short evolution times. We present a single versatile gradient-based optimization protocol that combines adiabatic control with effective Hamiltonian engineering in order to design adiabatic operations tailored to the specific imperfections and resources of an experimental setup. The practicality of the protocol is demonstrated by engineering a fast, 2.3 Rabi cy…
We study an implementation of the open GRAPE (Gradient Ascent Pulse Engineering) algorithm well suited for large open quantum systems. While typical implementations of optimal control algorithms for open quantum systems rely on explicit matrix exponential calculations, our implementation avoids these operations leading to a polynomial speed-up of the open GRAPE algorithm in cases of interest. This speed-up, as well as the reduced memory requirements of our implementation, are illustrated by comparison to a standard implementation of open GRAPE. As a practical example, we apply this open-system…
Work within this thesis advances optimal control algorithms for application to magnetic resonance systems. Specifically, presenting a quadratically convergent version of the gradient ascent pulse engineering method. The work is formulated in a superoperator representation of the Liouville-von Neumann equation. A Newton-grape method is developed using efficient calculation of analytical second directional derivatives. The method is developed to scale with the same complexity as methods that use only first directional derivatives. Algorithms to ensure a well-conditioned and positive definite mat…
Pulse engineering via projection of response functions at infinite nonlinear order
Zentrum für Optische Quantentechnologien, Universität Hamburg（汉堡大学光学量子技术中心）；Institut für Quantenphysik, Universität Hamburg（汉堡大学量子物理研究所）；The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging（汉堡超快成像中心）
We introduce a new approach for the robust control of quantum dynamics of strongly interacting many-body systems. Our approach involves the design of periodic global control pulse sequences to engineer desired target Hamiltonians that are robust against disorder, unwanted interactions and pulse imperfections. It utilizes a matrix representation of the Hamiltonian engineering protocol based on time-domain transformations of the Pauli spin operator along the quantization axis. This representation allows us to derive a concise set of algebraic conditions on the sequence matrix to engineer robust …
