Effective protocol for generating NOON states of resonator modes.

We propose a protocol for the generation of NOON states of resonator modes. The physical model is composed of two Kerr-nonlinear resonators and a four-level qudit. Using the off-resonant couplings between the resonators and the qudit, qudit-level-dependent frequency shifts on the two resonators are induced. The frequency shifts allow us to drive different resonators to the N-photon state when the qudit is in different intermediate levels. Consequently, the generation of NOON states with arbitrary photon number N can be completed in only three steps, i.e., driving the qudit to a superposition state of the two intermediate levels, driving one of the resonators to its N-photon state, and driving the qudit back to its ground level. Numerical simulations show that, in the regime of strong Kerr nonlinearity and coupling strengths, the protocol can produce the NOON state with high fidelity in the cases of different photon numbers. In addition, it is possible for the protocol to produce acceptable fidelity in the presence of systematic errors and decoherence factors. Therefore, the protocol may provide some useful perspectives for effective generation of photonic NOON states.

Effective non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation of cavity modes via invariant-based reverse engineering.

In this paper, we propose a protocol to realize non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation (NHQC) of cavity modes via invariant-based reverse engineering. Coupling cavity modes with an auxiliary atom trapped in a cavity, we derive effective Hamiltonians with the help of laser pulses. Based on the derived Hamiltonians, invariant-based reverse engineering is used to find proper evolution paths for NHQC. Moreover, the systematic-error-sensitivity nullified optimal control method is considered in the parameter selections, making the protocol insensitive to the influence of systematic errors of pulses. We also estimate the imperfections induced by random noise and decoherence. Numerical results show that the protocol holds robustness against these imperfections. Therefore, the protocol may provide useful perspectives to quantum computation with optical qubits in cavity quantum electrodynamics systems. This article is part of the theme issue 'Shortcuts to adiabaticity: theoretical, experimental and interdisciplinary perspectives'.

Effective discrimination of chiral molecules in a cavity.

We present a scheme to realize precise discrimination of chiral molecules in a cavity. Assisted by additional laser pulses, cavity fields can evolve into different coherence states with contrary-sign displacements according to the handedness of molecules. Consequently, the handedness of molecules can be read out with homodyne measurement on the cavity, and the successful probability is nearly unity without very strong cavity fields. Numerical results show that the scheme is insensitive to errors, noise, and decoherence. Therefore, the scheme may provide helpful perspectives for accurate discrimination of chiral molecules.

Fast generation of W states of superconducting qubits with multiple Schrödinger dynamics.

In this paper, we present a protocol to generate a W state of three superconducting qubits (SQs) by using multiple Schrödinger dynamics. The three SQs are respective embedded in three different coplanar waveguide resonators (CPWRs), which are coupled to a superconducting coupler (SCC) qubit at the center of the setups. With the multiple Schrödinger dynamics, we build a shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA), which greatly accelerates the evolution of the system. The Rabi frequencies of the laser pulses being designed can be expressed by the superpositions of Gaussian functions via the curves fitting, so that they can be realized easily in experiments. What is more, numerical simulation result shows that the protocol is robust against control parameters variations and decoherence mechanisms, such as the dissipations from the CPWRs and the energy relaxation. In addition, the influences of the dephasing are also resisted on account of the accelerating for the dynamics. Thus, the performance of the protocol is much better than that with the conventional adiabatic passage techniques when the dephasing is taken into account. We hope the protocol could be implemented easily in experiments with current technology.

Reverse engineering of a Hamiltonian by designing the evolution operators.

We propose an effective and flexible scheme for reverse engineering of a Hamiltonian by designing the evolution operators to eliminate the terms of Hamiltonian which are hard to be realized in practice. Different from transitionless quantum driving (TQD), the present scheme is focus on only one or parts of moving states in a D-dimension (D ≥ 3) system. The numerical simulation shows that the present scheme not only contains the results of TQD, but also has more free parameters, which make this scheme more flexible. An example is given by using this scheme to realize the population transfer for a Rydberg atom. The influences of various decoherence processes are discussed by numerical simulation and the result shows that the scheme is fast and robust against the decoherence and operational imperfection. Therefore, this scheme may be used to construct a Hamiltonian which can be realized in experiments.