On the practicality of time-optimal two-qubit Hamiltonian simulation

What is the time-optimal way of using a set of control Hamiltonians to obtain a desired interaction? Vidal, Hammerer and Cirac [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 237902] have obtained a set of powerful results characterizing the time-optimal simulation of a two-qubit quantum gate using a fixed interaction Hamiltonian and fast local control over the individual qubits. How practically useful are these results? We prove that there are two-qubit Hamiltonians such that time-optimal simulation requires infinitely many steps of evolution, each infinitesimally small, and thus is physically impractical. A procedure is given to determine which two-qubit Hamiltonians have this property, and we show that almost all Hamiltonians do. Finally, we determine some bounds on the penalty that must be paid in the simulation time if the number of steps is fixed at a finite number, and show that the cost in simulation time is not too great.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Exactly solvable model of three interacting particles in an external magnetic field

The quantum mechanical problem of three identical particles, moving in a plane and interacting pairwise via a spring potential, is solved exactly in the presence of a magnetic field. Calculations of the pair--correlation function, mean distance and the cluster area show a quantization of these parameters. Especially the pair-correlation function exhibits a certain number of maxima given by a quantum number. We obtain Jastrow pre-factors which lead to an exchange correlation hole of liquid type, even in the presence of the attractive interaction between the identical electrons.Comment: 8 pages 3 figure

Universal Quantum Computation using Exchange Interactions and Teleportation of Single-Qubit Operations

We show how to construct a universal set of quantum logic gates using control over exchange interactions and single- and two-spin measurements only. Single-spin unitary operations are teleported instead of being executed directly, thus eliminating a major difficulty in the construction of several of the most promising proposals for solid-state quantum computation, such as spin-coupled quantum dots, donor-atom nuclear spins in silicon, and electrons on helium. Contrary to previous proposals dealing with this difficulty, our scheme requires no encoding redundancy. We also discuss an application to superconducting phase qubits.Comment: 4.5 pages, including 2 figure

Unitary Gate Synthesis for Continuous Variable Systems

We investigate the synthesis of continuous-variable two-mode unitary gates in the setting where two modes A and B are coupled by a fixed quadratic Hamiltonian H. The gate synthesis consists of a sequence of evolutions governed by Hamiltonian H interspaced by local phase shifts applied to A and B. We concentrate on protocols that require the minimum necessary number of steps and we show how to implement the beam splitter and the two-mode squeezer in just three steps. Particular attention is paid to the Hamiltonian x_A p_B that describes the effective off-resonant interaction of light with the collective atomic spin.Comment: 7 pages, minor text modifications, references adde

Universal simulation of Hamiltonian dynamics for qudits

What interactions are sufficient to simulate arbitrary quantum dynamics in a composite quantum system? Dodd et al. (quant-ph/0106064) provided a partial solution to this problem in the form of an efficient algorithm to simulate any desired two-body Hamiltonian evolution using any fixed two-body entangling N-qubit Hamiltonian, and local unitaries. We extend this result to the case where the component systems have D dimensions. As a consequence we explain how universal quantum computation can be performed with any fixed two-body entangling N-qudit Hamiltonian, and local unitaries.Comment: 13 pages, an error in the "Pauli-Euclid-Gottesman Lemma" fixed, main results unchange

Effect of anharmonicities in the critical number of trapped condensed atoms with attractive two-body interaction

We determine the quantitative effect, in the maximum number of particles and other static observables, due to small anharmonic terms added to the confining potential of an atomic condensed system with negative two-body interaction. As an example of how a cubic or quartic anharmonic term can affect the maximum number of particles, we consider the trap parameters and the results given by Roberts et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211 (2001)]. However, this study can be easily transferred to other trap geometries to estimate anharmonic effects.Comment: Total of 5 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Fast Non-Adiabatic Two Qubit Gates for the Kane Quantum Computer

In this paper we apply the canonical decomposition of two qubit unitaries to find pulse schemes to control the proposed Kane quantum computer. We explicitly find pulse sequences for the CNOT, swap, square root of swap and controlled Z rotations. We analyze the speed and fidelity of these gates, both of which compare favorably to existing schemes. The pulse sequences presented in this paper are theoretically faster, higher fidelity, and simpler than existing schemes. Any two qubit gate may be easily found and implemented using similar pulse sequences. Numerical simulation is used to verify the accuracy of each pulse scheme

Critical number of atoms for attractive Bose-Einstein condensates with cylindrically symmetrical traps

We calculated, within the Gross-Pitaevskii formalism, the critical number of atoms for Bose-Einstein condensates with two-body attractive interactions in cylindrical traps with different frequency ratios. In particular, by using the trap geometries considered by the JILA group [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211 (2001)], we show that the theoretical maximum critical numbers are given approximately by $N_c = 0.55 ({l_0}/{|a|})$. Our results also show that, by exchanging the frequencies $\omega_z$ and $\omega_\rho$, the geometry with $\omega_\rho < \omega_z$ favors the condensation of larger number of particles. We also simulate the time evolution of the condensate when changing the ground state from $a=0$ to $a<0$ using a 200ms ramp. A conjecture on higher order nonlinear effects is also added in our analysis with an experimental proposal to determine its signal and strength.Comment: (4 pages, 2 figures) To appear in Physical Review

Quantum error correction for continuously detected errors

We show that quantum feedback control can be used as a quantum error correction process for errors induced by weak continuous measurement. In particular, when the error model is restricted to one, perfectly measured, error channel per physical qubit, quantum feedback can act to perfectly protect a stabilizer codespace. Using the stabilizer formalism we derive an explicit scheme, involving feedback and an additional constant Hamiltonian, to protect an ($n-1$)-qubit logical state encoded in $n$ physical qubits. This works for both Poisson (jump) and white-noise (diffusion) measurement processes. In addition, universal quantum computation is possible in this scheme. As an example, we show that detected-spontaneous emission error correction with a driving Hamiltonian can greatly reduce the amount of redundancy required to protect a state from that which has been previously postulated [e.g., Alber \emph{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4402 (2001)].Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; minor correction

Adiabatic Output Coupling of a Bose Gas at Finite Temperatures

We develop a general theory of adiabatic output coupling from trapped atomic Bose-Einstein Condensates at finite temperatures. For weak coupling, the output rate from the condensate, and the excited levels in the trap, settles in a time proportional to the inverse of the spectral width of the coupling to the output modes. We discuss the properties of the output atoms in the quasi-steady-state where the population in the trap is not appreciably depleted. We show how the composition of the output beam, containing condensate and thermal component, may be controlled by changing the frequency of the output coupler. This composition determines the first and second order coherence of the output beam. We discuss the changes in the composition of the bose gas left in the trap and show how nonresonant output coupling can stimulate either the evaporation of thermal excitations in the trap or the growth of non-thermal excitations, when pairs of correlated atoms leave the condensate.Comment: 22 pages, 6 Figs. To appear in Physical Review A All the typos from the previous submission have been fixe