Singular extremals for the time-optimal control of dissipative spin 1/2 particles

Quantum brachistochrone

Quantum brachistochrone (QB) is a quantum analogue of classical brachistochrone (shortest path). It is a solution to the following problem: How can we perform a desired quantum operation (or obtain a desired final quantum state) most quickly, by a time-dependent Hamiltonian subject to given constraints? Finding QB is a fundamental problem in quantum mechanics in its own right. Moreover, it will be useful in the study of quantum information and quantum engineering, such as quantum speed limits and implementations of quantum computers. A general framework for finding QBs, called QB formalism, has been developed. It is based on Pontryagin's maximum principle. We review the basics of the QB formalism, give simple examples, and briefly discuss some related studies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Shortcuts to adiabaticity: theoretical, experimental and interdisciplinary perspectives'.

Optimal shortcuts of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in the presence of dissipation

We use optimal control theory to obtain shortcuts to adiabaticity which maximize population transfer in a three-level stimulated Raman adiabatic passage system, for a given finite duration of the process and a specified dissipation rate at the intermediate state. We fix the sum of the intensities of the pump and Stokes pulses and use the mixing angle of the fields as the sole control variable. We determine the optimal variation of this angle and reveal the role of the singular arc in the optimal trajectory, in order to minimize the effect of dissipation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Shortcuts to adiabaticity: theoretical, experimental and interdisciplinary perspectives'.

Application of Optimal Control Theory to Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance

We study the application of Optimal Control Theory to Ion Cyclotron Resonance. We test the validity and the efficiency of this approach for the robust excitation of an ensemble of ions with a wide range of cyclotron frequencies. Optimal analytical solutions are derived in the case without any pulse constraint. A gradient-based numerical optimization algorithm is proposed to take into account limitation in the control intensity. The efficiency of optimal pulses is investigated as a function of control time, maximum amplitude and range of excited frequencies. A comparison with adiabatic and SWIFT pulses is done. On the basis of recent results in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, this study highlights the potential usefulness of optimal control in Ion Cyclotron Resonance.

A simplified framework to optimize MRI contrast preparation

PURPOSE

This article proposes a rigorous optimal control framework for the design of preparation schemes that optimize MRI contrast based on relaxation time differences.

METHODS

Compared to previous optimal contrast preparation schemes, a drastic reduction of the optimization parameter number is performed. The preparation scheme is defined as a combination of several block pulses whose flip angles, phase terms and inter-pulse delays are optimized to control the magnetization evolution.

RESULTS

The proposed approach reduces the computation time of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mi>B</mml:mi> <mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:math> -robust preparation schemes to around a minute (whereas several hours were required with previous schemes), with negligible performance loss. The chosen parameterization allows to formulate the total preparation duration as a constraint, which improves the overall compromise between contrast performance and preparation time. Simulation, in vitro and in vivo results validate this improvement, illustrate the straightforward applicability of the proposed approach, and point out its flexibility in terms of achievable contrasts. Major improvement is especially achieved for short-T₂ enhancement, as shown by the acquisition of a non-trivial contrast on a rat brain, where a short-T₂ white matter structure (corpus callosum) is enhanced compared to surrounding gray matter tissues (hippocampus and neocortex).

CONCLUSIONS

This approach proposes key advances for the design of optimal contrast preparation sequences, that emphasize their ability to generate non-standard contrasts, their potential benefit in a clinical context, and their straightforward applicability on any MR system.

Tunable, Flexible, and Efficient Optimization of Control Pulses for Practical Qubits

Quantum computation places very stringent demands on gate fidelities, and experimental implementations require both the controls and the resultant dynamics to conform to hardware-specific constraints. Superconducting qubits present the additional requirement that pulses must have simple parameterizations, so they can be further calibrated in the experiment, to compensate for uncertainties in system parameters. Other quantum technologies, such as sensing, require extremely high fidelities. We present a novel, conceptually simple and easy-to-implement gradient-based optimal control technique named gradient optimization of analytic controls (GOAT), which satisfies all the above requirements, unlike previous approaches. To demonstrate GOAT's capabilities, with emphasis on flexibility and ease of subsequent calibration, we optimize fast coherence-limited pulses for two leading superconducting qubits architectures-flux-tunable transmons and fixed-frequency transmons with tunable couplers.

Reverse engineering protocols for controlling spin dynamics

We put forward reverse engineering protocols to shape in time the components of the magnetic field to manipulate a single spin, two independent spins with different gyromagnetic factors, and two interacting spins in short amount of times. We also use these techniques to setup protocols robust against the exact knowledge of the gyromagnetic factors for the one spin problem, or to generate entangled states for two or more spins coupled by dipole-dipole interactions.

Perspectives of shaped pulses for EPR spectroscopy

This article describes current uses of shaped pulses, generated by an arbitrary waveform generator, in the field of EPR spectroscopy. We show applications of sech/tanh and WURST pulses to dipolar spectroscopy, including new pulse schemes and procedures, and discuss the more general concept of optimum-control-based pulses for applications in EPR spectroscopy. The article also describes a procedure to correct for experimental imperfections, mostly introduced by the microwave resonator, and discusses further potential applications and limitations of such pulses.

Linking the rotation of a rigid body to the Schrödinger equation: The quantum tennis racket effect and beyond

The design of efficient and robust pulse sequences is a fundamental requirement in quantum control. Numerical methods can be used for this purpose, but with relatively little insight into the control mechanism. Here, we show that the free rotation of a classical rigid body plays a fundamental role in the control of two-level quantum systems by means of external electromagnetic pulses. For a state to state transfer, we derive a family of control fields depending upon two free parameters, which allow us to adjust the efficiency, the time and the robustness of the control process. As an illustrative example, we consider the quantum analog of the tennis racket effect, which is a geometric property of any classical rigid body. This effect is demonstrated experimentally for the control of a spin 1/2 particle by using techniques of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. We also show that the dynamics of a rigid body can be used to implement one-qubit quantum gates. In particular, non-adiabatic geometric quantum phase gates can be realized based on the Montgomery phase of a rigid body. The robustness issue of the gates is discussed.

Experimental Time-Optimal Universal Control of Spin Qubits in Solids

Quantum control of systems plays an important role in modern science and technology. The ultimate goal of quantum control is to achieve high-fidelity universal control in a time-optimal way. Although high-fidelity universal control has been reported in various quantum systems, experimental implementation of time-optimal universal control remains elusive. Here, we report the experimental realization of time-optimal universal control of spin qubits in diamond. By generalizing a recent method for solving quantum brachistochrone equations [X. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 170501 (2015)], we obtained accurate minimum-time protocols for multiple qubits with fixed qubit interactions and a constrained control field. Single- and two-qubit time-optimal gates are experimentally implemented with fidelities of 99% obtained via quantum process tomography. Our work provides a time-optimal route to achieve accurate quantum control and unlocks new capabilities for the emerging field of time-optimal control in general quantum systems.

Controlling open quantum systems: tools, achievements, and limitations

The advent of quantum devices, which exploit the two essential elements of quantum physics, coherence and entanglement, has sparked renewed interest in the control of open quantum systems. Successful implementations face the challenge of preserving relevant nonclassical features at the level of device operation. A major obstacle is decoherence, which is caused by interaction with the environment. Optimal control theory is a tool that can be used to identify control strategies in the presence of decoherence. Here we review recent advances in optimal control methodology that allow typical tasks in device operation for open quantum systems to be tackled and discuss examples of relaxation-optimized dynamics. Optimal control theory is also a useful tool to exploit the environment for control. We discuss examples and point out possible future extensions.

Dissipative Remote-State Preparation in an Interacting Medium

Standard quantum state preparation methods work by preparing a required state locally and then distributing it to a distant location by a free-space propagation. We instead study procedures of preparing a target state at a remote location in the presence of an interacting background medium on which no control is required, manipulating only local dissipation. In mathematical terms, we characterize a set of reduced steady states stabilizable by local dissipation. An explicit local method is proposed by which one can construct a wanted one-site reduced steady state at an arbitrary remote site in a lattice of any size and geometry. In the chain geometry we also prove uniqueness of such a steady state. We demonstrate that the convergence time to fixed precision is smaller than the inverse gap, and we study robustness of the scheme in different medium interactions.

Quantum brachistochrone curves as geodesics: obtaining accurate minimum-time protocols for the control of quantum systems

Most methods of optimal control cannot obtain accurate time-optimal protocols. The quantum brachistochrone equation is an exception, and has the potential to provide accurate time-optimal protocols for a wide range of quantum control problems. So far, this potential has not been realized, however, due to the inadequacy of conventional numerical methods to solve it. Here we show that the quantum brachistochrone problem can be recast as that of finding geodesic paths in the space of unitary operators. We expect this brachistochrone-geodesic connection to have broad applications, as it opens up minimal-time control to the tools of geometry. As one such application, we use it to obtain a fast numerical method to solve the brachistochrone problem, and apply this method to two examples demonstrating its power.

Optimal control of the signal-to-noise ratio per unit time of a spin 1/2 particle: the crusher gradient and the radiation damping cases

We show to which extent the signal to noise ratio per unit time of a spin 1/2 particle can be maximized. We consider a cyclic repetition of experiments made of a measurement followed by a radio-frequency magnetic field excitation of the system, in the case of unbounded amplitude. In the periodic regime, the objective of the control problem is to design the initial state of the system and the pulse sequence which leads to the best signal to noise performance. We focus on two specific issues relevant in nuclear magnetic resonance, the crusher gradient and the radiation damping cases. Optimal control techniques are used to solve this non-standard control problem. We discuss the optimality of the Ernst angle solution, which is commonly applied in spectroscopic and medical imaging applications. In the radiation damping situation, we show that in some cases, the optimal solution differs from the Ernst one.

Relaxation selective pulses in fast relaxing systems

In this work, the selectivity or sharpness of the saturation profiles for relaxation selective pulses (R^rsps) that suppress magnetization possessing relaxation times of T2=T2(rsp) and T1=αT2 for α∈12,∞ was optimized. Along with sharpening the selectivity of the R^rsps, the selective saturation of these pulses was also optimized to be robust to both B0 and B1 inhomogeneities. Frequency-swept hyperbolic secant and adiabatic time-optimal saturation pulse inputs were found to work best in the optimizations, and the pulse lengths required to selectivity saturate the magnetization were always found to be less than the inversion recovery delay, T1ln(2). The selectivity of the optimized relaxation selective pulses was experimentally demonstrated in aqueous solutions with varying concentrations of the paramagnetic species, [Mn(+2)], and for use in solvent suppression. Finally, the "rotational" properties of spin relaxation were explored along with an analytical derivation of adiabatic time-optimal saturation pulses.

Decoherence, relaxation, and chaos in a kicked-spin ensemble

We study the dynamics of a quantum spin ensemble controlled by trains of ultrashort pulses. To model disturbances of the kicks, we consider that the spins are submitted to different kick trains which follow regular, random, stochastic, or chaotic dynamical processes. These are described by dynamical systems on a torus. We study the quantum decoherence and the population relaxation of the spin ensemble induced by these classical dynamical processes disturbing the kick trains. For chaotic kick trains we show that the decoherence and the relaxation processes exhibit a signature of chaos directly related to the Lyapunov exponents of the dynamical system. This signature is a horizon of coherence, i.e., a preliminary duration without decoherence followed by a rapid decoherence process.

A systematic approach for optimizing the robustness of pulse sequence elements with respect to couplings, offsets, and B1-field inhomogeneities (COB)

Robust experiments that cover a wide range of chemical shift offsets and J-couplings are highly desirable for a multitude of applications in small molecule NMR spectroscopy. Many attempts to improve individual aspects of the robustness of pulse sequence elements based on rational and numerical design have been reported, but a general optimization strategy to cover all necessary aspects for a fully robust sequence is still lacking. In this article, a viable optimization strategy is introduced that covers a defined range of couplings, offsets, and B(1)-field inhomogeneities (COB) in a time-optimal way. Individual components of the optimization strategy can be optimized in any adequate way. As an example for the COB approach, we present the (1)H -(13)C-COB-INEPT with transfer of approximately 99% over the full carbon and proton bandwidth and (1)J(CH) -couplings in the range of 120-250 Hz, which have been optimized using efficient algorithms derived from optimal control theory. The theoretical performance is demonstrated in a number of corresponding COB-HSQC experiments.

Control aspects of quantum computing using pure and mixed states

Steering quantum dynamics such that the target states solve classically hard problems is paramount to quantum simulation and computation. And beyond, quantum control is also essential to pave the way to quantum technologies. Here, important control techniques are reviewed and presented in a unified frame covering quantum computational gate synthesis and spectroscopic state transfer alike. We emphasize that it does not matter whether the quantum states of interest are pure or not. While pure states underly the design of quantum circuits, ensemble mixtures of quantum states can be exploited in a more recent class of algorithms: it is illustrated by characterizing the Jones polynomial in order to distinguish between different (classes of) knots. Further applications include Josephson elements, cavity grids, ion traps and nitrogen vacancy centres in scenarios of closed as well as open quantum systems.

Shaped optimal control pulses for increased excitation bandwidth in EPR

A 1 ns resolution pulse shaping unit has been developed for pulsed EPR spectroscopy to enable 14-bit amplitude and phase modulation. Shaped broadband excitation pulses designed using optimal control theory (OCT) have been tested with this device at X-band frequency (9 GHz). FT-EPR experiments on organic radicals in solution have been performed with the new pulses, designed for uniform excitation over a significantly increased bandwidth compared to a classical rectangular π/2 pulse of the same B(1) amplitude. The concept of a dead-time compensated prefocused pulse has been introduced to EPR with a self-refocusing of 200 ns after the end of the pulse. Echo-like refocused signals have been recorded and compared to the performance of a classical Hahn-echo sequence. The impulse response function of the microwave setup has been measured and incorporated into the algorithm for designing OCT pulses, resulting in further significant improvements in performance. Experimental limitations and potential new applications of OCT pulses in EPR spectroscopy will be discussed.

New strategies for designing robust universal rotation pulses: application to broadband refocusing at low power

Optimizing pulse performance often requires a compromise between maximizing signal amplitude and minimizing spectral phase errors. We consider methods for the de novo design of universal rotation pulses, applied specifically but not limited to refocusing pulses. Broadband inversion pulses that rotate all magnetization components 180° about a given fixed axis are necessary for refocusing and mixing in high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. The relative merits of various methodologies for generating pulses suitable for broadband refocusing are considered. The de novo design of 180° universal rotation pulses (180(UR)(°)) using optimal control can provide improved performance compared to schemes which construct refocusing pulses as composites of existing pulses. The advantages of broadband universal rotation by optimized pulses (BURBOP) are most evident for pulse design that includes tolerance to RF inhomogeneity or miscalibration. Nearly ideal refocusing is possible over a resonance offset range of ± 170% relative to the nominal pulse B(1) field, concurrent with tolerance to B(1) inhomogeneity/miscalibration of ± 33%. We present new modifications of the optimal control algorithm that incorporate symmetry principles (S-BURBOP) and relax conservative limits on peak RF pulse amplitude for short time periods that pose no threat to the probe. We apply them to generate a set of low-power 180(BURBOP)(°) pulses suitable for widespread use in (13)C spectroscopy on the majority of available probes. A quantitative measure for the reduced spectral phase error provided by these symmetry principles is also derived. For pulses designed according to this symmetry, refocusing phase errors are virtually eliminated upon application of EXORCYCLE or an equivalent G-180(S-BURBOP)(°)-G gradient sandwich, independent of resonance offset and RF inhomogeneity. The magnitude of the refocused component is not significantly compromised in achieving such ideal phase performance.