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Optimal Control of Large Spin-Atomic Systems with Coherent Electromagnetic Fields

Seth Merkel, University of New Mexico

(Session 4 : Friday from 17:00-17:30)

Abstract. Cold atomic systems provide an excellent testing ground for quantum control protocols due to the isolation of these systems from their environment and the availability of high precision fields from the “quantum optics toolbox”. In this talk, we look at a variety of way to control large spins confined to the ground state hyperfine manifold of 133Cs. In particular, we present a scheme for controlling spins coherently using microwaves and rf-magnetic fields and compare this some previous experiments that utilized quasi-static magnetic fields and a nonlinear AC-Stark shift. We look at the requirements for controllability and find state preparations protocols, fields that map a fiducial state to an arbitrary target state, through a simple stochastic search algorithm. Additionally, we show that in this system the ability to easily find state preparation protocols translates into the ability to easily find arbitrary unitary maps.