A scalable readout system for a superconducting adiabatic quantum optimization system

We have designed, fabricated and tested an XY-addressable readout system that is specifically tailored for the reading of superconducting flux qubits in an integrated circuit that could enable adiabatic quantum optimization. In such a system, the flux qubits only need to be read at the end of an adiabatic evolution when quantum mechanical tunneling has been suppressed, thus simplifying many aspects of the readout process. The readout architecture for an $N$-qubit adiabatic quantum optimization system comprises $N$ hysteretic dc SQUIDs and $N$ rf SQUID latches controlled by $2\sqrt{N} + 2$ bias lines. The latching elements are coupled to the qubits and the dc SQUIDs are then coupled to the latching elements. This readout scheme provides two key advantages: First, the latching elements provide exceptional flux sensitivity that significantly exceeds what may be achieved by directly coupling the flux qubits to the dc SQUIDs using a practical mutual inductance. Second, the states of the latching elements are robust against the influence of ac currents generated by the switching of the hysteretic dc SQUIDs, thus allowing one to interrogate the latching elements repeatedly so as to mitigate the effects of stochastic switching of the dc SQUIDs. We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve single qubit read error rates of $<10^{-6}$ with this readout scheme. We have characterized the system-level performance of a 128-qubit readout system and have measured a readout error probability of $8\times10^{-5}$ in the presence of optimal latching element bias conditions.Comment: Updated for clarity, final versio

Chaos assisted adiabatic passage

We study the exact dynamics underlying stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) for a particle in a multi-level anharmonic system (the infinite square-well) driven by two sequential laser pulses, each with constant carrier frequency. In phase space regions where the laser pulses create chaos, the particle can be transferred coherently into energy states different from those predicted by traditional STIRAP. It appears that a transition to chaos can provide a new tool to control the outcome of STIRAP

Landau-Zener transitions in a linear chain

We present an exact asymptotic solution for electron transition amplitudes in an infinite linear chain driven by an external homogeneous time-dependent electric field. This solution extends the Landau-Zener theory for the case of infinite number of states in discrete spectrum. In addition to transition amplitudes we calculate an effective diffusion constant.Comment: 3 figure

Adiabatic creation of coherent superposition states via multiple intermediate states

We consider an adiabatic population transfer process that resembles the well established stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). In our system, the states have nonzero angular momentums $J$, therefore, the coupling laser fields induce transitions among the magnetic sublevels of the states. In particular, we discuss the possibility of creating coherent superposition states in a system with coupling pattern $J=0\Leftrightarrow J=1$ and $J=1\Leftrightarrow J=2$. Initially, the system is in the J=0 state. We show that by two delayed, overlapping laser pulses it is possible to create any final superposition state of the magnetic sublevels $|2,-2>$, $|2,0>$, $|2,+2>$. Moreover, we find that the relative phases of the applied pulses influence not only the phases of the final superposition state but the probability amplitudes as well. We show that if we fix the shape and the time-delay between the pulses, the final state space can be entirely covered by varying the polarizations and relative phases of the two pulses. Performing numerical simulations we find that our transfer process is nearly adiabatic for the whole parameter set.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Operator Method for Nonperturbative Calculation of the Thermodynamic Values in Quantum Statistics. Diatomic Molecular Gas

Operator method and cumulant expansion are used for nonperturbative calculation of the partition function and the free energy in quantum statistics. It is shown for Boltzmann diatomic molecular gas with some model intermolecular potentials that the zeroth order approximation of the proposed method interpolates the thermodynamic values with rather good accuracy in the entire range of both the Hamiltonian parameters and temperature. The systematic procedure for calculation of the corrections to the zeroth order approximation is also considered.Comment: 22 pages, 7 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics

Coherent Control of Multiphoton Transitions with Femtosecond pulse shaping

We explore the effects of ultrafast shaped pulses for two-level systems that do not have a single photon resonance by developing a multiphoton density-matrix approach. We take advantage of the fact that the dynamics of the intermediate virtual states are absent within our laser pulse timescales. Under these conditions, the multiphoton results are similar to the single photon and that it is possible to extend the single photon coherent control ideas to develop multiphoton coherent control.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. submitted to PR

Dark-Bright Solitons in Inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein Condensates

We investigate dark-bright vector solitary wave solutions to the coupled non-linear Schr\"odinger equations which describe an inhomogeneous two-species Bose-Einstein condensate. While these structures are well known in non-linear fiber optics, we show that spatial inhomogeneity strongly affects their motion, stability, and interaction, and that current technology suffices for their creation and control in ultracold trapped gases. The effects of controllably different interparticle scattering lengths, and stability against three-dimensional deformations, are also examined.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Hilbert--Schmidt volume of the set of mixed quantum states

We compute the volume of the convex N^2-1 dimensional set M_N of density matrices of size N with respect to the Hilbert-Schmidt measure. The hyper--area of the boundary of this set is also found and its ratio to the volume provides an information about the complex structure of M_N. Similar investigations are also performed for the smaller set of all real density matrices. As an intermediate step we analyze volumes of the unitary and orthogonal groups and of the flag manifolds.Comment: 13 revtex pages, ver 3: minor improvement

Exercises in exact quantization

The formalism of exact 1D quantization is reviewed in detail and applied to the spectral study of three concrete Schr\"odinger Hamiltonians [-\d^2/\d q^2 + V(q)]^\pm on the half-line $\{q>0\}$, with a Dirichlet (-) or Neumann (+) condition at q=0. Emphasis is put on the analytical investigation of the spectral determinants and spectral zeta functions with respect to singular perturbation parameters. We first discuss the homogeneous potential $V(q)=q^N$ as $N \to +\infty$vs its (solvable) $N=\infty$ limit (an infinite square well): useful distinctions are established between regular and singular behaviours of spectral quantities; various identities among the square-well spectral functions are unraveled as limits of finite-N properties. The second model is the quartic anharmonic oscillator: its zero-energy spectral determinants \det(-\d^2/\d q^2 + q^4 + v q^2)^\pm are explicitly analyzed in detail, revealing many special values, algebraic identities between Taylor coefficients, and functional equations of a quartic type coupled to asymptotic $v \to +\infty$ properties of Airy type. The third study addresses the potentials $V(q)=q^N+v q^{N/2-1}$ of even degree: their zero-energy spectral determinants prove computable in closed form, and the generalized eigenvalue problems with v as spectral variable admit exact quantization formulae which are perfect extensions of the harmonic oscillator case (corresponding to N=2); these results probably reflect the presence of supersymmetric potentials in the family above.Comment: latex txt.tex, 2 files, 34 pages [SPhT-T00/078]; v2: corrections and updates as indicated by footnote