Schedule Mar 01, 2013
Ultrafast Quantum Process Tomography via Continuous Measurement and Convex Optimization
Charles Baldwin (Univ. New Mexico)

Quantum process tomography (QPT) is an essential tool to diagnose the implementation of a dynamical map. However, the standard protocol is extremely resource intensive. For a Hilbert space of dimension d, it requires d^2 different input preparations followed by state tomography via the estimation of the expectation values of d^2-1 orthogonal observables. We show that when the process is nearly unitary, we can dramatically improve the efficiency and robustness of QPT through a collective continuous measurement protocol on an ensemble of identically prepared systems. Given the measurement history we obtain the process matrix via a convex program that optimizes a desired cost function. We study two estimators: least-squares and compressive sensing. Both allow rapid QPT due to the condition of complete positivity of the map; this is a powerful constraint to force the process to be physical and consistent with the data. We apply the method to a real experimental implementation, where optimal control is used to perform a unitary map on a d=8 dimensional system of hyperfine levels in cesium atoms, and obtain the measurement record via Faraday spectroscopy of a laser probe.


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