Minimum time optimal synthesis for two level quantum systems (Q6826384)

An explicit description of all time optimal trajectories for an invariant system on \(\mathrm{SU}(2)\) with two orthogonal controls which are bounded is provided. The methods to parametrize the elements of \(\mathrm{SU}(2)\) are described. The geometric analysis is performed in the unit disk of the complex plane. The Pontryagin maximum principle is used to obtain the form of the candidate time optimal controls and trajectories. The time optimal control problem is solved for diagonal operators and it is shown that there exists a particular circular trajectory (separatrix circle) which separates optimal trajectories that reach the boundary of the unit disk from the others. All the optimal trajectories leading to diagonal operators are outside this circle while all others are inside. It is find also that inside of the separatrix circle there is a critical trajectory having the important property that all optimal trajectories end at an intersection with this curve. It is emphasized that the results obtained in this paper allow to find the minimum time needed to achieve a given evolution of a two level quantum system defined on \(\mathrm{SU}(2)\). This means that it is possible to find the optimal control once the final condition is chosen. Remarkably is that these two level quantum systems are of fundamental interest in quantum physics and in quantum information, since they are the basic building block in the circuit based implementation of quantum information processing. A comparison with the results obtained in other works on the control of systems on \(\mathrm{SU}(2)\) and two level quantum systems is also given.