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.
We generalize the concept of population for non-Hermitian systems in different ways and identify the one best suited to characterize adiabaticity. An approximate adiabaticity criterion consistent with this choice is also worked out. Examples are provided for different processes involving two-level atoms with decay.
Adiabaticity of quantum evolution is important in many settings. One example is the adiabatic quantum computation. Nevertheless, up to now, there is no effective method to test the adiabaticity of the evolution when the eigenenergies of the driven Hamiltonian are not known. We propose a simple method to check adiabaticity of a quantum process for an arbitrary quantum system. We further propose a operational method for finding a uniformly adiabatic quench scheme based on Kibble-Zurek mechanism for the case when the initial and the final Hamiltonians are given. This method should help in impleme…
We discuss applications of shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) to adiabatic quantum computation. After reviewing the fundamental properties and the present status of STA from the author's personal point of view, we apply the method to the adiabatic algorithm of the Grover's problem. We discuss two possible implementations of STA for the adiabatic quantum computations: the method of quantum adiabatic brachistochrone and the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariant-based inverse engineering.
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. …
Different techniques to speed up quantum adiabatic processes are currently being explored for applications in atomic, molecular and optical physics, such as transport, cooling and expansions, wavepacket splitting, or internal state control. Here we examine the capabilities of superadiabatic iterations to produce a sequence of shortcuts to adiabaticity. The general formalism is worked out as well as examples for population inversion in a two-level system.
Understanding out-of-equilibrium quantum dynamics is a critical outstanding problem, with key questions regarding characterizing adiabaticity for applications in quantum technologies. We show how the metric-space approach to quantum mechanics naturally characterizes regimes of quantum dynamics, and provides an appealingly visual tool for assessing their degree of adiabaticity. Further, the dynamic trajectories of quantum systems in metric space suggest a lack of "ergodicity", thus providing a better understanding of the fundamental one-to-one mapping between densities and wavefunctions.
We show that the quantum Fisher information attained in an adiabatic approach to critical quantum metrology cannot lead to the Heisenberg limit of precision and therefore regular quantum metrology under optimal settings is always superior. Furthermore, we argue that even though shortcuts to adiabaticity can arbitrarily decrease the time of preparing critical ground states, they cannot be used to achieve or overcome the Heisenberg limit for quantum parameter estimation in adiabatic critical quantum metrology. As case studies, we explore the application of counter-diabatic driving to the Landau-…
Numerous sufficient conditions for adiabaticity of the evolution of a driven quantum system have been known for quite a long time. In contrast, necessary adiabatic conditions are scarce. A practicable necessary condition well-suited for many-body systems has been proven recently in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 200401 (2017)]. Here we tailor this condition for estimating run times of quantum adiabatic algorithms. As an illustration, the condition is applied to the adiabatic algorithm for searching in an unstructured database (adiabatic Grover search algorithm). We find that thus obtained lower bound …
In fast forward quantum shortcuts to adiabaticity, a designed potential $U_{FF}(q,t)$ steers a wavefunction to evolve from the $n$'th eigenstate of an initial Hamiltonian $\hat H(0)$ to the $n$'th eigenstate of a final Hamiltonian $\hat H(τ)$, in finite time $τ$. Previously proposed strategies for constructing $U_{FF}$ are (in the absence of special symmetries) limited to the ground state, $n=0$. We develop a method that overcomes this limitation, thereby substantially expanding the applicability of this shortcut to adiabaticity, and we illustrate its effectiveness with numerical simulations. …
Sped-up protocols (shortcuts to adiabaticity) that drive a system quickly to the same populations than a slow adiabatic process may involve Hamiltonian terms difficult to realize in practice. We use the dynamical symmetry of the Hamiltonian to find, by means of Lie transforms, alternative Hamiltonians that achieve the same goals without the problematic terms. We apply this technique to three-level systems (two interacting bosons in a double well, and beam splitters with two and three output channels) driven by Hamiltonians that belong to the four-dimensional algebra U3S3.
The quantitative adiabatic condition (QAC), or quantitative condition, is a convenient (a priori) tool for estimating the adiabaticity of quantum evolutions. However, the range of the applicability of QAC is not well understood. It has been shown that QAC can become insufficient for guaranteeing the validity of the adiabatic approximation, but under what conditions the QAC would become necessary has become controversial. Furthermore, it is believed that the inability for the QAC to reveal quantum adiabaticity is due to induced resonant transitions. However, it is not clear how to quantify thes…
In this thesis, it is presented a set of results in adiabatic dynamics (closed and open system) and transitionless quantum driving that promote some advances in our understanding on quantum control and Hamiltonian inverse engineering. In the context of adiabatic dynamics in closed systems, it is introduced a validation mechanism for the adiabaticity conditions by studing the system dynamics from a non-inertial reference frame. By considering a decohering scenario, validity conditions of the adiabatic approximation are also studied. As a fresh general result with potential applications, it is s…
Shortcuts to adiabaticity provide a general approach to mimic adiabatic quantum processes via arbitrarily fast evolutions in Hilbert space. For these counter-diabatic evolutions, higher speed comes at higher energy cost. Here, the counter-diabatic theory is employed as a minimal energy demanding scheme for speeding up adiabatic tasks. As a by-product, we show that this approach can be used to obtain infinite classes of transitionless models, including time-independent Hamiltonians under certain conditions over the eigenstates of the original Hamiltonian. We apply these results to investigate s…
Adiabatic processes driven by non-Hermitian, time-dependent Hamiltonians may be sped up by generalizing inverse engineering techniques based on Berry's transitionless driving algorithm or on dynamical invariants. We work out the basic theory and examples described by two-level Hamiltonians: the acceleration of rapid adiabatic passage with a decaying excited level and of the dynamics of a classical particle on an expanding harmonic oscillator.
Shortcuts to adiabaticity let a system reach the results of a slow adiabatic process in a shorter time. We propose to quantify the "energy cost" of the shortcut by the energy consumption of the system enlarged by including the control device. A mechanical model where the dynamics of the system and control device can be explicitly described illustrates that a broad range of possible values for the consumption are possible, including zero (above the adiabatic energy increment) when friction is negligible and the energy given away as negative power is stored and recovered by perfect regenerative …
A condition on the Hamiltonian of a time-dependent quantum mechanical system is derived which, if satisfied, implies optimal adiabaticity (defined below). The condition is expressed in terms of the Hamiltonian and in terms of the evolution operator related to it. Since the latter depends in a complicated way on the Hamiltonian, it is not yet clear how the condition can be used to extract useful information about the optimal Hamiltonian. The condition is tested on an exactly-soluble time-dependent problem (a spin in a magnetic field), where perfectly adiabatic evolution can be easily identified…
The design of quantum control methods has been shown to greatly improve the performance of many evolving quantum technologies. To this end, the usage of adiabatic dynamics to drive quantum systems is seriously limited by the action of environment-induced noise and decoherence. In this spirit, fast quantum processes known as shortcuts to adiabaticity have been developed as alternatives to adiabatic protocols with a myriad of potential applications. Here, we develop a new state-independent mechanism to speed up the evolution of an arbitrary quantum dynamical system by simply rescaling the time o…
Suppressing unwanted transitions out of the instantaneous ground state is a major challenge in unitary adiabatic quantum computation. A recent approach consists in building counterdiabatic potentials approximated using variational strategies. In this contribution, we extend this variational approach to Lindbladian dynamics, having as a goal the suppression of diabatic transitions between pairs of Jordan blocks in quantum annealing. We show that, surprisingly, unitary counterdiabatic ansätze are successful for dissipative dynamics as well, allowing for easier experimental implementations compar…
We study the Ising Hamiltonian with a transverse field term to simulate the quantum annealing. Using shortcuts to adiabaticity, we design the time dependence of the Hamiltonian. The dynamical invariant is obtained by the mean-field ansatz, and the Hamiltonian is designed by the inverse engineering. We show that the time dependence of physical quantities such as the magnetization is independent of the speed of the Hamiltonian variation in the infinite-range model. We also show that rotating transverse magnetic fields are useful to achieve the ideal time evolution.
Shortcuts to adiabaticity are well-known methods for controlling the quantum dynamics beyond the adiabatic criteria, where counter-diabatic (CD) driving provides a promising means to speed up quantum many-body systems. In this work, we show the applicability of CD driving to enhance the digitized adiabatic quantum computing paradigm in terms of fidelity and total simulation time. We study the state evolution of an Ising spin chain using the digitized version of the standard CD driving and its variants derived from the variational approach. We apply this technique in the preparation of Bell and…
Only very recently, rescaling time has been recognized as a way to achieve adiabatic dynamics in fast processes. The advantage of time-rescaling over other shortcuts to adiabaticity is that it does not depend on the eigenspectrum and eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. However, time-rescaling requires that the original dynamics are adiabatic, and in the rescaled time frame the Hamiltonian exhibits non-trivial time-dependence. In this work, we show how time-rescaling can be applied to Dirac dynamics, and we show that all time-dependence can be absorbed into the effective potentials through a judici…
Shortcut to adiabaticity (STA) is a speed way to produce the same final state that would result in an adiabatic, infinitely slow process. Two typical techniques to engineer STA are developed by either introducing auxiliary counterdiabatic fields or finding new Hamiltonians that own dynamical invariants to constraint the system into the adiabatic paths. In this paper, a consistent method is introduced to naturally connect the above two techniques with a unified Lie algebraic framework, which neatly removes the requirements of finding instantaneous states in the transitionless driving method and…
Shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) are fast methods to realize the same final state evolution of quantum adiabatic process. We develop a general theory to construct a new kind of STA by solely sampling the points of the adiabatic path of the original adiabatic Hamiltonian. In contrast to previous methods, our approach does not require any additional control resources, has inherent robustness, and does not use any complicated unitary transformation. Based on path sampling, the resulting STA protocols are simple and can avoid points of adiabatic path that are challenging to implement. As applicatio…
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…
Achieving effectively adiabatic dynamics in finite time is a ubiquitous goal in virtually all areas of modern physics. So-called shortcuts to adiabaticity refer to a set of methods and techniques that allow to produce in a short time the same final state that would result from an adiabatic, infinitely slow process. In the present work we generalize one of these methods -- the fast-forward technique -- to driven Dirac dynamics. As a main result we find that shortcuts to adiababticity for the $(1+1)$-dimensional Dirac equation are facilitated by a combination of both, scalar and pseudoscalar pot…
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…
A Schrödinger equation may be transformed by unitary operators into dynamical equations in different interaction pictures which share with it a common physical frame, i.e., the same underlying interactions, processes and dynamics. In contrast to this standard scenario, other relations are also possible, such as a common interaction-picture dynamical equation corresponding to several Schrödinger equations that represent different physics. This may enable us to design alternative and feasible experimental routes for operations that are a priori difficult or impossible to perform. The power of th…
The "fast-forward" approach by Masuda and Nakamura generates driving potentials to accelerate slow quantum adiabatic dynamics. First we present a streamlined version of the formalism that produces the main results in a few steps. Then we show the connection between this approach and inverse engineering based on Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants. We identify in this manner applications in which the engineered potential does not depend on the initial state. Finally we discuss more general applications exemplified by wave splitting processes.
We propose how to engineer the longitudinal coupling to accelerate the measurement of a qubit longitudinally coupled to a cavity, motivated by the concept of shortcuts to adiabaticity. Different modulations are inversely designed from two methods of inverse engineering and counter-diabatic driving, for achieving larger values of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at nanosecond scale. By comparison, we demonstrate that our protocols outperform the usual periodic modulations on the pointer state separation and SNR. Finally, we show a possible implementation considering state-of-the-art circuit quan…
The adiabatic approximation exhibits wide applicability in quantum mechanics, providing a simple approach for nontransitional dynamics in quantum systems governed by slowly varying time-dependent Hamiltonians. However, the standard adiabatic theorem is specifically derived for closed quantum systems. In a realistic open system scenario, the inevitable system-reservoir interaction must be taken into account, which strongly impacts the generalization of the adiabatic behavior. In this paper, we introduce sufficient conditions for the adiabatic approximation in open quantum systems. These conditi…
The quantum adiabatic theorem is fundamental to time dependent quantum systems, but being able to characterize quantitatively an adiabatic evolution in many-body systems can be a challenge. This work demonstrates that the use of appropriate state and particle-density metrics is a viable method to quantitatively determine the degree of adiabaticity in the dynamic of a quantum many-body system. The method applies also to systems at finite temperature, which is important for quantum technologies and quantum thermodynamics related protocols. The importance of accounting for memory effects is discu…
We engineer the fast rotation of a quantum particle confined in an effectively one-dimensional, harmonic trap, for a predetermined rotation angle and time, avoiding final excitation. Different schemes are proposed with different speed limits that depend on the control capabilities. We also make use of trap rotations to create squeezed states without manipulating the trap frequencies.
In a `shortcut-to-adiabaticity' (STA) protocol, the counter-diabatic Hamiltonian, which suppresses the non-adiabatic transition of a reference `adiabatic' trajectory, induces a quantum uncertainty of the work cost in the framework of quantum thermodynamics. Following a theory derived recently [Funo et al 2017 Phys. Rev. Lett. 118 100602], we perform an experimental measurement of the STA work statistics in a high-quality superconducting Xmon qubit. Through the frozen-Hamiltonian and frozen-population techniques, we experimentally realize the two-point measurement of the work distribution for g…
For a frequency-tunable two-qubit system, a controlled-Z (CZ) gate can be realized by adiabatically driving the qubit system through an avoided level crossing between an auxiliary state and computational levels. Here, we theoretically propose a fast CZ gate using a shortcut-to-adiabaticity (STA). Experimentally, the STA CZ gate is implemented with a 52 ns control pulse for two coupled superconducting Xmon qubits. Measured fidelity of the STA CZ gate is higher than 96.0%, in both quantum process tomography and randomized benchmarking. The protocol allows a flexible design of the evolution time …
Given the increasing use of shotcuts to adiabaticity (STA) to optimize power and efficiency of quantum heat engines, it becomes a relevant question if there are any theoretical limits to their application. We argue that quantum fluctuations in the control device which implements the shortcut deflect the system from the adiabatic path. This not only induces transitions to unwanted final states but also changes the system energy, so that using the STA has a definite cost in terms of conventional work definitions. This may be the ultimate cost of an adiabatic shortcut, in the sense that it is pre…
Geometric phase in the wave function is important with regard to quantum non-locality and adiabatic evolution. We study the confinement of a particle by three-dimensional isotropically moving walls, of relevance to experimental trapping techniques, via a proposed approach that explains the physical origin of the geometric Dirac phase induced in the wave function. This phase depends only on the relative rate of change of the spatial scale factor. The approach also yields the class of external potentials that replicate adiabatic evolution in finite time. As illustrative examples, we consider uni…
We propose a protocol to realize fast high-fidelity quantum state transfer between distant optomechanical interfaces connected by a continuum waveguide. The scheme consists of three steps: two accelerating adiabatic processes joined by a population conversion process. In comparison to the traditional adiabatic technique, our method reaches a higher transfer fidelity with a shorter time. Numerical results show that the fidelity of this transfer scheme in the dissipative system mainly depends on the protocol speed and the coupling strength of the waveguide and cavities. Assisted by inverting the…
Quantum batteries are energy storage devices that satisfy quantum mechanical principles. How to improve the battery's performance such as stored energy and power is a crucial element in the quantum battery. Here, we investigate the charging and discharging dynamics of a three-level counterdiabatic stimulated Raman adiabatic passage quantum battery via shortcuts to adiabaticity, which can compensate for undesired transitions to realize a fast adiabatic evolution through the application of an additional control field to an initial Hamiltonian. The scheme can significantly speed up the charging a…
Based on a `shortcut-to-adiabaticity' (STA) scheme, we theoretically design and experimentally realize a set of high-fidelity single-qubit quantum gates in a superconducting Xmon qubit system. Through a precise microwave control, the qubit is driven to follow a fast `adiabatic' trajectory with the assistance of a counter-diabatic field and the correction of derivative removal by adiabatic gates. The experimental measurements of quantum process tomography and interleaved randomized benchmarking show that the process fidelities of our STA quantum gates are higher than 94.9% and the gate fideliti…
We propose a fast mixed-state control scheme to transfer the quantum state along designable trajectories in Hilbert space, which is robust to multiple decoherence noises. Starting with the dynamical invariants of open quantum systems, we present the shortcuts to adiabaticity (STAs) of open quantum systems at first, then apply the STAs to speed up the adiabatic steady process. Our scheme drives open systems from a initial steady state to a target steady state by a controlled Liouvillian that possesses the same form as the reference (original) one which is accessible in present-day experiments. …
Based on shortcuts to adiabaticity and quantum Zeno dynamics, we present a protocol to implement quantum state transfer (QST) in a quantum spin-1/2 chain. In the protocol, the complex Hamiltonian of an $N$-site system is simplified, and a simple effective Hamiltonian is present. It is shown that only the control of the coupling strengths between the boundary spins and the bulk spins are required for QST. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the protocol possesses high efficiency and is robust against the decay and the fluctuations of the control fields. The protocol might provide an alternat…
A highly-efficient method for optical detection and separation of left- and right-handed chiral molecules is presented. The method utilizes a closed-loop three-state system in which the population dynamics depends on the phases of the three couplings. Due to the different signs of the coupling between two of the states for the opposite chiralities and the phase sensitivity of the scheme, the population dynamics is chirality-dependent. By using concepts from the `shortcuts to adiabaticity' approach, one can achieve 100\% contrast in state population transfer between the two enantiomers, which c…
Fast and robust quantum control protocols are often based on an idealised approximate description of the relevant quantum system. While this may provide a performance which is close to optimal, improvements can be made by incorporating elements of the full system representation. We propose a new technique for such scenarios, called enhanced shortcuts to adiabaticity (eSTA). The eSTA method works for previously intractable Hamiltonians by providing an analytical correction to existing STA protocols. This correction can be easily calculated and the resulting protocols are outside the class of ST…
Shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) are powerful quantum control methods, allowing quick evolution into target states of otherwise slow adiabatic dynamics. Such methods have widespread applications in quantum technologies, and various STA protocols have been demonstrated in closed systems. However, realizing STA for open quantum systems has presented a greater challenge, due to complex controls required in existing proposals. Here we present the first experimental demonstration of STA for open quantum systems, using a superconducting circuit QED system consisting of two coupled bosonic oscillators…
It is still a challenge to experimentally realize shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA) for a non-Hermitian quantum system since a non-Hermitian quantum system's counterdiabatic driving Hamiltonian contains some unrealizable auxiliary control fields. In this paper, we relax the strict condition in constructing STA and propose a method to redesign a realizable supplementary Hamiltonian to construct non-Hermitian STA. The redesigned supplementary Hamiltonian can be eithersymmetric or asymmetric. For the sake of clearness, we apply this method to an Allen-Eberly model as an example to verify the validi…
We consider a finite-time quantum Otto cycle with single and two-spin-$1/2$ systems as its working medium. In order to mimic adiabatic dynamics at a finite-time, we employ a shortcut-to-adiabaticity technique and evaluate the performance of the engine including the cost of the shortcut. We compare our results with the true adiabatic and non-adiabatic performances of the same cycle. Our findings clearly indicate that the use of shortcut-to-adiabaticity scheme significantly enhances the performance of the quantum Otto engine as compared to its adiabatic and non-adiabatic counterparts for differe…
We propose an efficientmethod to construct shortcuts to adiabaticity through designing a substitute Hamiltonian to try to avoid the defect in which the speed-up protocol' Hamiltonian may involve terms which are difficult to realize in practice. We show that as long as the counterdiabatic coupling terms-even only some of them-have been nullified by the additional Hamiltonian, the corresponding shortcuts to the adiabatic process could be constructed and the adiabatic process would be sped up. As an application example, we apply this method to the popular Landau-Zener model for the realization of…
We provide a rigorous generalization of the quantum adiabatic theorem for open systems described by a Markovian master equation with time-dependent Liouvillian $\mathcal{L}(t)$. We focus on the finite system case relevant for adiabatic quantum computing and quantum annealing. Adiabaticity is defined in terms of closeness to the instantaneous steady state. While the general result is conceptually similar to the closed system case, there are important differences. Namely, a system initialized in the zero-eigenvalue eigenspace of $\mathcal{L}(t)$ will remain in this eigenspace with a deviation th…
Quantum battery is an emerging subject in the field of quantum thermodynamics, which is applied to charge, store and dispatch energy in quantum systems. In this work, we propose a fast and stable charging protocol based on the adiabatic evolution for the dark state of a three-level quantum battery. It combines the conventional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) and the quantum transitionless driving technique. The charging process can be accelerated up to nearly one order in magnitude even under constraint of the strength of counter-diabatic driving. To perform the charging protocol i…
A central challenge in the successful implementation of adiabatic quantum algorithms is to maintain the quantum adiabaticity during the entire evolution. However, the energy gap between the ground and the excited states of interacting many-body systems often decreases quickly with the number of qubits, and the quantum adiabaticity can be severely impaired. Despite numerous previous efforts, a practical method to preserve the quantum adiabaticity has yet to be developed. Here we present a universal approach to enhancing the quantum adiabaticity via cavity or circuit QED. By coupling an adiabati…
We formulate the theory of shortcuts to adiabaticity in classical mechanics. For a reference Hamiltonian, the counterdiabatic term is constructed from the dispersionless Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) hierarchy. Then the adiabatic theorem holds exactly for an arbitrary choice of time-dependent parameters. We use the Hamilton-Jacobi theory to define the generalized action. The action is independent of the history of the parameters and is directly related to the adiabatic invariant. The dispersionless KdV hierarchy is obtained from the classical limit of the KdV hierarchy for the quantum shortcuts to a…
We study dynamics of a two-color photoassociation of atoms into diatomic molecules via nonlinear Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) process. This system has a famous counterpart in (linear) quantum mechanics, and been discussed recently in the context of generalizing quantum adiabatic theorem to nonlinear systems. Here we use another approach to study adiabaticity and stability in the system: we apply methods of classical Hamiltonian dynamics. We found nonlinear dynamical instabilities, cases of complete integrability, and improved conditions of adiabaticity.
