Noise and decoherence in quantum two-level systems

Motivated by recent experiments with Josephson-junction circuits we reconsider decoherence effects in quantum two-level systems (TLS). On one hand, the experiments demonstrate the importance of 1/f noise, on the other hand, by operating at symmetry points one can suppress noise effects in linear order. We, therefore, analyze noise sources with a variety of power spectra, with linear or quadratic coupling, which are longitudinal or transverse relative to the eigenbasis of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. To evaluate the dephasing time for transverse 1/f noise second-order contributions have to be taken into account. Manipulations of the quantum state of the TLS define characteristic time scales. We discuss the consequences for relaxation and dephasing processes.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the Nobel Jubilee Symposium on Condensation and Coherence in Condensed Systems (Physica Scripta

Jordan-Wigner transformations for tree structures

The celebrated Jordan--Wigner transformation provides an efficient mapping between spin chains and fermionic systems in one dimension. Here we extend this spin-fermion mapping to arbitrary tree structures, which enables mapping between fermionic and spin systems with nearest-neighbor coupling. The mapping is achieved with the help of additional spins at the junctions between one-dimensional chains. This property allows for straightforward simulation of Majorana braiding in spin or qubit systems

Topological Josephson junction in transverse magnetic field

We consider Majorana zero modes in a Josephson junction on top of a topological insulator in transverse magnetic field. Majorana zero modes reside at periodically located nodes of Josephson vortices. We find that hybridization of these modes is prohibited by symmetries of the problem at vanishing chemical potential, which ensures better protection of zero modes and yields methods to control the tunnel coupling between Majorana modes for quantum information processing applications

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