QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

We study the relations between classical information and the feasibility of accurate manipulation of quantum system dynamics. We show that if an efficient classical representation of the dynamics exists, optimal control problems on many-body quantum systems can be solved efficiently with finite precision. In particular, one-dimensional slightly entangled dynamics can be efficiently controlled. We provide a bound for the minimal time necessary to perform the optimal process given the bandwidth of the control pulse, which is the continuous version of the Solovay-Kitaev theorem.

We demonstrate that arbitrary time evolutions of many-body quantum systems can be reversed even in cases when only part of the Hamiltonian can be controlled. The reversed dynamics obtained via optimal control—contrary to standard time-reversal procedures—is extremely robust to external sources of noise. We provide a lower bound on the control complexity of a many-body quantum dynamics in terms of the dimension of the manifold supporting it, elucidating the role played by integrability in this context.

We realize on an atom-chip, a practical, experimentally undemanding, tomographic reconstruction algorithm relying on the time–resolved measurements of the atomic population distribution among atomic internal states. More specifically, we estimate both the state density matrix, as well as the dephasing noise present in our system, by assuming complete knowledge of the Hamiltonian evolution. The proposed scheme is based on routinely performed measurements and established experimental procedures, hence providing a simplified methodology for quantum technological applications.

Entangled atomic states, such as spin-squeezed states, represent a promising resource for a new generation of quantum sensors and atomic clocks. We demonstrate that optimal control techniques can be used to substantially enhance the degree of spin squeezing in strongly interacting many-body systems, even in the presence of noise and imperfections. Specifically, we present a protocol that is robust to noise and outperforms conventional methods. Potential experimental implementations are discussed.

Atom chips provide compact and robust platforms towards the implementation of practical quantum technologies. A quick and faithful preparation of arbitrary input states for these devices is crucial but represents a challenging experimental task. This is especially difficult when the dynamical evolution is noisy and unavoidable setup imperfections have to be considered. Here, we experimentally prepare with very high fidelity nontrivial superpositions of internal states of a rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate realized on an atom chip.

Accurately controlling a quantum system is a fundamental requirement in quantum information processing and the coherent manipulation of molecular systems. The ultimate goal in quantum control is to prepare a desired state with the highest fidelity allowed by the available resources and the experimental constraints. Here we experimentally implement two optimal high-fidelity control protocols using a two-level quantum system comprising Bose–Einstein condensates in optical lattices.

Two-qubit interactions are at the heart of quantum information processing. For single-spin qubits in semiconductor quantum dots, the exchange gate has always been considered the natural two-qubit gate. The recent integration of a magnetic field or g-factor gradients in coupled quantum dot systems allows for a one-step, robust realization of the controlled-phase (C-phase) gate instead.

The computational potential of a quantum processor can only be unleashed if errors during a quantum computation can be controlled and corrected for. Quantum error correction works if imperfections of quantum gate operations and measurements are below a certain threshold and corrections can be applied repeatedly. We implement multiple quantum error correction cycles for phase-flip errors on qubits encoded with trapped ions. Errors are corrected by a quantum-feedback algorithm using high-fidelity gate operations and a reset technique for the auxiliary qubits.