Learning-Based Quantum Robust Control: Algorithm, Applications, and Experiments

Curriculum-Based Deep Reinforcement Learning for Quantum Control

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has been recognized as an efficient technique to design optimal strategies for different complex systems without prior knowledge of the control landscape. To achieve a fast and precise control for quantum systems, we propose a novel DRL approach by constructing a curriculum consisting of a set of intermediate tasks defined by fidelity thresholds, where the tasks among a curriculum can be statically determined before the learning process or dynamically generated during the learning process. By transferring knowledge between two successive tasks and sequencing tasks according to their difficulties, the proposed curriculum-based DRL (CDRL) method enables the agent to focus on easy tasks in the early stage, then move onto difficult tasks, and eventually approaches the final task. Numerical comparison with the traditional methods [gradient method (GD), genetic algorithm (GA), and several other DRL methods] demonstrates that CDRL exhibits improved control performance for quantum systems and also provides an efficient way to identify optimal strategies with few control pulses.

Rapid Feedback Stabilization of Quantum Systems With Application to Preparation of Multiqubit Entangled States

For stochastic quantum systems with measurement feedback, this article proposes a rapid switching control scheme based on state space partition and realizes the rapid stabilization of an eigenstate of an observable operator. Meanwhile, we apply the proposed scheme to the preparation of typical entangled states in multiqubit systems. In view of the convergence obstacle caused by the symmetric structure of the state space, especially in the case with degenerate observable operators, we first partition the state space into a subset containing the target state and its complement to distinguish the target state from its antipodal points, and then design the corresponding control laws in these two subsets, respectively, by using different Lyapunov functions. The interaction Hamiltonians are also constructed to drive the system state to the desired subset first, and further to the target state. In particular, the control law designed in the undesired subset guarantees the strictly monotonic descent of the corresponding Lyapunov function, which makes the system trajectory switch between the two subsets at most twice and has the potential to speed up the convergence process. We also prove the stability of the closed-loop system with the proposed switching control law based on the stochastic Lyapunov stability theory. By applying the proposed switching control scheme to a three-qubit system, we achieve the preparation of a GHZ state and a W state.

CEQD: A Complex Mass Function to Predict Interference Effects

Uncertainty is inevitable in the decision-making process of real applications. Quantum mechanics has become an interesting and popular topic in predicting and explaining human decision-making behaviors, especially regarding interference effects caused by uncertainty in the process of decision making, due to the limitations of Bayesian reasoning. In addition, complex evidence theory (CET), as a generalized Dempster-Shafer evidence theory, has been proposed to represent and handle uncertainty in the framework of the complex plane, and it is an effective tool in uncertainty reasoning. Particularly, the complex mass function, also known as a complex basic belief assignment in CET, is complex-value modeled, which is superior to the classical mass function in expressing uncertain information. CET is considered to have certain inherent connections with quantum mechanics since both are complex-value modeled and can be applied in handling uncertainty in decision-making problems. In this article, therefore, by bridging CET and quantum mechanics, we propose a new complex evidential quantum dynamical (CEQD) model to predict interference effects on human decision-making behaviors. In addition, uniform and weighted complex Pignistic belief transformation functions are proposed, which can be used effectively in the CEQD model to help explain interference effects. The experimental results and comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. In summary, the proposed CEQD method provides a new perspective to study and explain the interference effects involved in human decision-making behaviors, which is significant for decision theory.

Machine Learning for Chemical Reactions

Machine learning (ML) techniques applied to chemical reactions have a long history. The present contribution discusses applications ranging from small molecule reaction dynamics to computational platforms for reaction planning. ML-based techniques can be particularly relevant for problems involving both computation and experiments. For one, Bayesian inference is a powerful approach to develop models consistent with knowledge from experiments. Second, ML-based methods can also be used to handle problems that are formally intractable using conventional approaches, such as exhaustive characterization of state-to-state information in reactive collisions. Finally, the explicit simulation of reactive networks as they occur in combustion has become possible using machine-learned neural network potentials. This review provides an overview of the questions that can and have been addressed using machine learning techniques, and an outlook discusses challenges in this diverse and stimulating field. It is concluded that ML applied to chemistry problems as practiced and conceived today has the potential to transform the way with which the field approaches problems involving chemical reactions, in both research and academic teaching.