Dephasing of solid-state qubits at optimal points

Motivated by recent experiments with Josephson-junction circuits, we analyze the influence of various noise sources on the dynamics of two-level systems at optimal operation points where the linear coupling to low-frequency fluctuations is suppressed. We study the decoherence due to nonlinear (quadratic) coupling, focusing on the experimentally relevant 1/f and Ohmic noise power spectra. For 1/f noise strong higher-order effects influence the evolution.Comment: minor corrections and clarification

Quantum-Limited Position Detection and Amplification: A Linear Response Perspective

Using standard linear response relations, we derive the quantum limit on the sensitivity of a generic linear-response position detector, and the noise temperature of a generic linear amplifier. Particular emphasis is placed on the detector's effective temperature and damping effects; the former quantity directly determines the dimensionless power gain of the detector. Unlike the approach used in the seminal work of Caves [Phys. Rev. D, 26, 1817 (1982)], the linear-response approach directly involves the noise properties of the detector, and allows one to derive simple necessary and sufficient conditions for reaching the quantum limit. Our results have direct relevance to recent experiments on nanoelectromechanical systems, and complement recent theoretical studies of particular mesoscopic position detectors.Comment: 9 pages; minor typos correcte

Spin-spin correlators in Majorana representation

In the Majorana representation of a spin 1/2 we find an identity which relates spin-spin correlators to one-particle fermionic correlators. This should be contrasted with the straightforward approach in which two-particle (four-fermion) correlators need to be calculated. We discuss applications to the analysis of the dynamics of a spin coupled to a dissipative environment and of a quantum detector performing a continuous measurement of a qubit's state

Dephasing of qubits by transverse low-frequency noise

We analyze the dissipative dynamics of a two-level quantum system subject to low-frequency, e.g. 1/f noise, motivated by recent experiments with superconducting quantum circuits. We show that the effect of transverse linear coupling of the system to low-frequency noise is equivalent to that of quadratic longitudinal coupling. We further find the decay law of quantum coherent oscillations under the influence of both low- and high-frequency fluctuations, in particular, for the case of comparable rates of relaxation and pure dephasing

Statistics and noise in a quantum measurement process

The quantum measurement process by a single-electron transistor or a quantum point contact coupled to a quantum bit is studied. We find a unified description of the statistics of the monitored quantity, the current, in the regime of strong measurement and expect this description to apply for a wide class of quantum measurements. We derive the probability distributions for the current and charge in different stages of the process. In the parameter regime of the strong measurement the current develops a telegraph-noise behavior which can be detected in the noise spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Cavity QED in superconducting circuits: susceptibility at elevated temperatures

We study the properties of superconducting electrical circuits, realizing cavity QED. In particular we explore the limit of strong coupling, low dissipation, and elevated temperatures relevant for current and future experiments. We concentrate on the cavity susceptibility as it can be directly experimentally addressed, i.e., as the impedance or the reflection coefficient of the cavity. To this end we investigate the dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model in the strong coupling regime at high temperatures. The dynamics is investigated within the Bloch-Redfield formalism. At low temperatures, when only the few lowest levels are occupied the susceptibility can be presented as a sum of contributions from independent level-to-level transitions. This corresponds to the secular (random phase) approximation in the Bloch-Redfield formalism. At temperatures comparable to and higher than the oscillator frequency, many transitions become important and a multiple-peak structure appears. We show that in this regime the secular approximation breaks down, as soon as the peaks start to overlap. In other words, the susceptibility is no longer a sum of contributions from independent transitions. We treat the dynamics of the system numerically by exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian of the qubit plus up to 200 states of the oscillator. We compare the results obtained with and without the secular approximation and find a qualitative discrepancy already at moderate temperatures.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Geometric quantum gates with superconducting qubits

We suggest a scheme to implement a universal set of non-Abelian geometric transformations for a single logical qubit composed of three superconducting transmon qubits coupled to a single cavity. The scheme utilizes an adiabatic evolution in a rotating frame induced by the effective tripod Hamiltonian which is achieved by longitudinal driving of the transmons. The proposal is experimentally feasible with the current state of the art and could serve as a first proof of principle for geometric quantum computing.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure