Realistic and verifiable coherent control of excitonic states in a light harvesting complex

We explore the feasibility of coherent control of excitonic dynamics in light harvesting complexes, analyzing the limits imposed by the open nature of these quantum systems. We establish feasible targets for phase and phase/amplitude control of the electronically excited state populations in the Fenna-Mathews-Olson (FMO) complex and analyze the robustness of this control with respect to orientational and energetic disorder, as well as decoherence arising from coupling to the protein environment. We further present two possible routes to verification of the control target, with simulations for the FMO complex showing that steering of the excited state is experimentally verifiable either by extending excitonic coherence or by producing novel states in a pump-probe setup. Our results provide a first step toward coherent control of these complex biological quantum systems in an ultrafast spectroscopy setup.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Optimal control of a qubit coupled to a non-Markovian environment

A central challenge for implementing quantum computing in the solid state is decoupling the qubits from the intrinsic noise of the material. We investigate the implementation of quantum gates for a paradigmatic, non-Markovian model: A single qubit coupled to a two-level system that is exposed to a heat bath. We systematically search for optimal pulses using a generalization of the novel open systems Gradient Ascent Pulse Engineering (GRAPE) algorithm. We show and explain that next to the known optimal bias point of this model, there are optimal shapes which refocus unwanted terms in the Hamiltonian. We study the limitations of controls set by the decoherence properties. This can lead to a significant improvement of quantum operations in hostile environments.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, improved pulse shape

Quantum control theory for coupled 2-electron dynamics in quantum dots

We investigate optimal control strategies for state to state transitions in a model of a quantum dot molecule containing two active strongly interacting electrons. The Schrodinger equation is solved nonperturbatively in conjunction with several quantum control strategies. This results in optimized electric pulses in the THz regime which can populate combinations of states with very short transition times. The speedup compared to intuitively constructed pulses is an order of magnitude. We furthermore make use of optimized pulse control in the simulation of an experimental preparation of the molecular quantum dot system. It is shown that exclusive population of certain excited states leads to a complete suppression of spin dephasing, as was indicated in Nepstad et al. [Phys. Rev. B 77, 125315 (2008)].Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Optimal Dynamical Decoupling Sequence for Ohmic Spectrum

We investigate the optimal dynamical decoupling sequence for a qubit coupled to an ohmic environment. By analytically computing the derivatives of the decoherence function, the optimal pulse locations are found to satisfy a set of nonlinear equations which can be easily solved. These equations incorporates the environment information such as high-energy (UV) cutoff frequency \omega_c, giving a complete description of the decoupling process. The solutions explain previous experimental and theoretical results of locally optimized dynamical decoupling (LODD) sequence in high-frequency dominated environment, which were obtained by purely numerical computation and experimental feedback. As shown in numerical comparison, these solutions outperform the Uhrig dynamical decoupling (UDD) sequence by one or more orders of magnitude in the ohmic case.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Optimal control for one-qubit quantum sensing

Quantum systems can be exquisite sensors thanks to their sensitivity to external perturbations. This same characteristic also makes them fragile to external noise. Quantum control can tackle the challenge of protecting quantum sensors from environmental noise, while leaving their strong coupling to the target field to be measured. As the compromise between these two conflicting requirements does not always have an intuitive solution, optimal control based on numerical search could prove very effective. Here we adapt optimal control theory to the quantum sensing scenario, by introducing a cost function that, unlike the usual fidelity of operation, correctly takes into account both the unknown field to be measured and the environmental noise. We experimentally implement this novel control paradigm using a Nitrogen Vacancy center in diamond, finding improved sensitivity to a broad set of time varying fields. The demonstrated robustness and efficiency of the numerical optimization, as well as the sensitivity advantaged it bestows, will prove beneficial to many quantum sensing applications

Application of Optimal Control to CPMG Refocusing Pulse Design

We apply optimal control theory (OCT) to the design of refocusing pulses suitable for the CPMG sequence that are robust over a wide range of B0 and B1 offsets. We also introduce a model, based on recent progress in the analysis of unitary dynamics in the field of quantum information processing (QIP), that describes the multiple refocusing dynamics of the CPMG sequence as a dephasing Pauli channel. This model provides a compact characterization of the consequences and severity of residual pulse errors. We illustrate the methods by considering a specific example of designing and analyzing broadband OCT refocusing pulses of length 10 t180 that are constrained by the maximum instantaneous pulse power. We show that with this refocusing pulse, the CPMG sequence can refocus over 98% of magnetization for resonance offsets up to 3.2 times the maximum RF amplitude, even in the presence of +/- 10% RF inhomogeneity.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures; Revised and reformatted version with new title and significant changes to Introduction and Conclusions section