Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of New Mexico

CQuIC Seminars

Mapping the optimal route between two quantum states

Presented by Irfan Siddiqi, University of California, Berkeley

A central feature of quantum mechanics is that a measurement is intrinsically probabilistic. As a result, continuously monitoring a quantum system will randomly perturb its natural unitary evolution. The ability to control a quantum system in the presence of these fluctuations is of increasing importance in quantum information processing and finds application in fields ranging from nuclear magnetic resonance to chemical synthesis. Here we reconstruct the individual quantum trajectories of a superconducting circuit that evolves in competition between continuous weak measurement and driven unitary evolution. By tracking individual trajectories that evolve between an arbitrary choice of initial and final states we can deduce the most probable path through quantum state space. These pre- and post-selected quantum trajectories also reveal the optimal detector signal in the form of a smooth time-continuous function that connects the desired boundary conditions. These results and the underlying theory, based on a principle of least action, reveal the optimal route from initial to final states, and may enable new quantum control methods for state steering and information processing.

3:30 pm, Thursday, August 28, 2014
PAIS-2540, PAIS

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A schedule of talks within the Department of Physics and Astronomy is available on the P&A web site at http://physics.unm.edu/pandaweb/events/index.php