arXiv subjects

Alberto Carlini

Publications and source records attributed to Alberto Carlini.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

Variational approach to the optimal control of coherently driven, open quantum system dynamics

Quantum coherence inherently affects the dynamics and the performances of a quantum machine. Coherent control can, at least in principle, enhance the work extraction and boost the velocity of evolution in an open quantum system. Using advanced tools from the calculus of variations and reformulating the control problem in the instantaneous Hamiltonian eigenframe, we develop a general technique for minimizing a wide class of cost functionals when the external control has access to full rotations of the system Hamiltonian. The method is then applied both to time and heat loss minimization problems and explicitly solved in the case of a two level system in contact with either bosonic or fermionic thermal environments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Optimal thermodynamic control in open quantum systems

We apply advanced methods of control theory to open quantum systems and we determine finite-time processes which are optimal with respect to thermodynamic performances. General properties and necessary conditions characterizing optimal drivings are derived, obtaining bang-bang type solutions corresponding to control strategies switching between adiabatic and isothermal transformations. A direct application of these results is the maximization of the work produced by a generic quantum heat engine, where we show that the maximum power is directly linked to a particular conserved quantity naturally emerging from the control problem. Finally we apply our general approach to the specific case of a two level system, which can be put in contact with two different baths at fixed temperatures, identifying the processes which minimize heat dissipation. Moreover, we explicitly solve the optimization problem for a cyclic two-level heat engine driven beyond the linear-response regime, determining the corresponding optimal cycle, the maximum power, and the efficiency at maximum power.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Locally optimal symplectic control of multimode Gaussian states

The relaxation of a system to a steady state is a central point of interest in many attempts to advance control over the quantum world. In this paper, we consider control through instantaneous Gaussian unitary operations on the ubiquitous lossy channel, and find locally optimal conditions for the cooling and heating of a multimode Gaussian state subject to losses and possibly thermal noise. This is done by isolating the parameters that encode entropy and temperature and by deriving an equation for their evolution. This equation is in such a form that it grants clear insight into how relaxation may be helped by instantaneous quantum control. It is thus shown that squeezing is a crucial element in optimising the rate of change of entropic properties under these channels. Exact relaxation times for heating and cooling are derived, up to an arbitrarily small distance from the fixed point of the lossy channel with locally optimal strategies.

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arXiv2014

On the time optimal thermalization of single mode Gaussian states

We consider the problem of time optimal control of a continuous bosonic quantum system subject to the action of a Markovian dissipation. In particular, we consider the case of a one mode Gaussian quantum system prepared in an arbitrary initial state and which relaxes to the steady state due to the action of the dissipative channel. We assume that the unitary part of the dynamics is represented by Gaussian operations which preserve the Gaussian nature of the quantum state, i.e. arbitrary phase rotations, bounded squeezing and unlimited displacements. In the ideal ansatz of unconstrained quantum control (i.e. when the unitary phase rotations, squeezing and displacement of the mode can be performed instantaneously), we study how control can be optimized for speeding up the relaxation towards the fixed point of the dynamics and we analytically derive the optimal relaxation time. Our model has potential and interesting applications to the control of modes of electromagnetic radiation and of trapped levitated nanospheres.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Speeding up and slowing down the relaxation of a qubit by optimal control

We consider a two-level quantum system prepared in an arbitrary initial state and relaxing to a steady state due to the action of a Markovian dissipative channel. We study how optimal control can be used for speeding up or slowing down the relaxation towards the fixed point of the dynamics. We analytically derive the optimal relaxation times for different quantum channels in the ideal ansatz of unconstrained quantum control (a magnetic field of infinite strength). We also analyze the situation in which the control Hamiltonian is bounded by a finite threshold. As byproducts of our analysis we find that: (i) if the qubit is initially in a thermal state hotter than the environmental bath, quantum control cannot speed up its natural cooling rate; (ii) if the qubit is initially in a thermal state colder than the bath, it can reach the fixed point of the dynamics in finite time if a strong control field is applied; (iii) in the presence of unconstrained quantum control it is possible to keep the evolved state indefinitely and arbitrarily close to special initial states which are far away from the fixed points of the dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Time Optimal Unitary Operations

Extending our previous work on time optimal quantum state evolution, we formulate a variational principle for the time optimal unitary operation, which has direct relevance to quantum computation. We demonstrate our method with three examples, i.e. the swap of qubits, the quantum Fourier transform and the entangler gate, by choosing a two-qubit anisotropic Heisenberg model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Quantum Brachistochrone

We present a general framework for finding the time-optimal evolution and the optimal Hamiltonian for a quantum system with a given set of initial and final states. Our formulation is based on the variational principle and is analogous to that for the brachistochrone in classical mechanics. We reduce the problem to a formal equation for the Hamiltonian which depends on certain constraint functions specifying the range of available Hamiltonians. For some simple examples of the constraints, we explicitly find the optimal solutions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Quantum learning and universal quantum matching machine

Suppose that three kinds of quantum systems are given in some unknown states $\ket f^{\otimes N}$, $\ket{g_1}^{\otimes K}$, and $\ket{g_2}^{\otimes K}$, and we want to decide which \textit{template} state $\ket{g_1}$ or $\ket{g_2}$, each representing the feature of the pattern class ${\cal C}_1$ or ${\cal C}_2$, respectively, is closest to the input \textit{feature} state $\ket f$. This is an extension of the pattern matching problem into the quantum domain. Assuming that these states are known a priori to belong to a certain parametric family of pure qubit systems, we derive two kinds of matching strategies. The first is a semiclassical strategy which is obtained by the natural extension of conventional matching strategies and consists of a two-stage procedure: identification (estimation) of the unknown template states to design the classifier (\textit{learning} process to train the classifier) and classification of the input system into the appropriate pattern class based on the estimated results. The other is a fully quantum strategy without any intermediate measurement which we might call as the {\it universal quantum matching machine}. We present the Bayes optimal solutions for both strategies in the case of K=1, showing that there certainly exists a fully quantum matching procedure which is strictly superior to the straightforward semiclassical extension of the conventional matching strategy based on the learning process.

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arXiv1992

Stabilizing the gravitational action and Coleman's solution to the cosmological constant problem

We use the 5-th time action formalism introduced by Halpern and Greensite to stabilize the unbounded Euclidean 4-D gravity in two simple minisuperspace models. In particular, we show that, at the semiclassical level ($\hbar \rightarrow 0$), we still have as a leading saddle point the $S^4$ solution and the Coleman peak at zero cosmological constant, for a fixed De Witt supermetric. At the quantum (one-loop) level the scalar gravitational modes give a positive semi-definite Hessian contribution to the 5-D partition function, thus removing the Polchinski phase ambiguity.

hep-th↗

arXiv1992

The phase of scalar field wormholes at one loop in the path integral formulation for Euclidean quantum gravity

We here calculate the one-loop approximation to the Euclidean Quantum Gravity coupled to a scalar field around the classical Carlini and Mijić wormhole solutions. The main result is that the Euclidean partition functional $Z_{EQG}$ in the ``little wormhole'' limit is real. Extension of the CM solutions with the inclusion of a bare cosmological constant to the case of a sphere $S^4$ can lead to the elimination of the destabilizing effects of the scalar modes of gravity against those of the matter. In particular, in the asymptotic region of a large 4-sphere, we recover the Coleman's $\exp \left (\exp \left ({1\over λ_{eff}}\right )\right )$ peak at the effective cosmological constant $λ_{eff}=0$, with no phase ambiguities in $Z_{EQG}$.

hep-th↗