Information storage and retrieval through quantum phase

Native qudit entanglement in a trapped ion quantum processor

Quantum information carriers, just like most physical systems, naturally occupy high-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Instead of restricting them to a two-level subspace, these high-dimensional (qudit) quantum systems are emerging as a powerful resource for the next generation of quantum processors. Yet harnessing the potential of these systems requires efficient ways of generating the desired interaction between them. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an implementation of a native two-qudit entangling gate up to dimension 5 in a trapped-ion system. This is achieved by generalizing a recently proposed light-shift gate mechanism to generate genuine qudit entanglement in a single application of the gate. The gate seamlessly adapts to the local dimension of the system with a calibration overhead that is independent of the dimension.

Storage of Information Using Small Organic Molecules

Although information is ubiquitous, and its technology arguably among the highest that humankind has produced, its very ubiquity has posed new types of problems. Three that involve storage of information (rather than computation) include its usage of energy, the robustness of stored information over long times, and its ability to resist corruption through tampering. The difficulty in solving these problems using present methods has stimulated interest in the possibilities available through fundamentally different strategies, including storage of information in molecules. Here we show that storage of information in mixtures of readily available, stable, low-molecular-weight molecules offers new approaches to this problem. This procedure uses a common, small set of molecules (here, 32 oligopeptides) to write binary information. It minimizes the time and difficulty of synthesis of new molecules. It also circumvents the challenges of encoding and reading messages in linear macromolecules. We have encoded, written, stored, and read a total of approximately 400 kilobits (both text and images), coded as mixtures of molecules, with greater than 99% recovery of information, written at an average rate of 8 bits/s, and read at a rate of 20 bits/s. This demonstration indicates that organic and analytical chemistry offer many new strategies and capabilities to problems in long-term, zero-energy, robust information storage.

Focusing of a Rydberg Positronium Beam with an Ellipsoidal Electrostatic Mirror

Slow atoms in Rydberg states can exhibit specular reflection from a cylindrical surface upon which an azimuthally periodic potential is imposed. We have constructed a concave mirror of this type, in the shape of a truncated oblate ellipsoid of revolution, which has a focal length of (1.50±0.01)  m measured optically. When placed near the center of a long vacuum pipe, this structure brings a beam of n=32 positronium (Ps) atoms to a focus on a position sensitive detector at a distance of (6.03±0.03) m from the Ps source. The intensity at the focus implies an overall reflection efficiency of ∼30%. The focal spot diameter (32±1)  mm full width at half maximum is independent of the atoms' flight times from 20 to 60  μs, thus indicating that the mirror is achromatic to a good approximation. Mirrors based on this principle would be of use in a variety of experiments, allowing for improved collection efficiency and tailored transport or imaging of beams of slow Rydberg atoms and molecules.

Dynamics of the quantum search and quench-induced first-order phase transitions

We investigate the excitation dynamics at a first-order quantum phase transition (QPT). More specifically, we consider the quench-induced QPT in the quantum search algorithm, which aims at finding out a marked element in an unstructured list. We begin by deriving the exact dynamics of the model, which is shown to obey a Riccati differential equation. Then, we discuss the probabilities of success by adopting either global or local adiabaticity strategies. Moreover, we determine the disturbance of the quantum criticality as a function of the system size. In particular, we show that the critical point exponentially converges to its thermodynamic limit even in a fast evolution regime, which is characterized by both entanglement QPT estimators and the Schmidt gap. The excitation pattern is manifested in terms of quantum domain walls separated by kinks. The kink density is then shown to follow an exponential scaling as a function of the evolution speed, which can be interpreted as a Kibble-Zurek mechanism for first-order QPTs.

An Epigenetics-Inspired DNA-Based Data Storage System

Biopolymers are an attractive alternative to store and circulate information. DNA, for example, combines remarkable longevity with high data storage densities and has been demonstrated as a means for preserving digital information. Inspired by the dynamic, biological regulation of (epi)genetic information, we herein present how binary data can undergo controlled changes when encoded in synthetic DNA strands. By exploiting differential kinetics of hydrolytic deamination reactions of cytosine and its naturally occurring derivatives, we demonstrate how multiple layers of information can be stored in a single DNA template. Moreover, we show that controlled redox reactions allow for interconversion of these DNA-encoded layers of information. Overall, such interlacing of multiple messages on synthetic DNA libraries showcases the potential of chemical reactions to manipulate digital information on (bio)polymers.

Ultrafast Ramsey interferometry to implement cold atomic qubit gates

Quantum computing is based on unitary operations in a two-level quantum system, a qubit, as the fundamental building block, and the ability to perform qubit operations in an amount of time that is considerably shorter than the coherence time is an essential requirement for quantum computation. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of arbitrary single-qubit SU(2) quantum gate operations achieved at a terahertz clock speed. Implemented by coherent control methods of tailored ultrafast laser interaction with cold rubidium atomic qubits, Bloch vector manipulation about all three rotational axes was successfully demonstrated. The dynamic evolution of the qubits was successfully measured by devised femtosecond Ramsey interferometry. We anticipate this demonstration to be a starting point to process quantum algorithm in a simplified manner by a programmed sequence of femtosecond laser pulses.

The cellular memory disc of reprogrammed cells

The crucial facts underlying the low efficiency of cellular reprogramming are poorly understood. Cellular reprogramming occurs in nuclear transfer, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) formation, cell fusion, and lineage-switching experiments. Despite these advances, there are three fundamental problems to be addressed: (1) the majority of cells cannot be reprogrammed, (2) the efficiency of reprogramming cells is usually low, and (3) the reprogrammed cells developed from a patient's own cells activate immune responses. These shortcomings present major obstacles for using reprogramming approaches in customised cell therapy. In this Perspective, the author synthesises past and present observations in the field of cellular reprogramming to propose a theoretical picture of the cellular memory disc. The current hypothesis is that all cells undergo an endogenous and exogenous holographic memorisation such that parts of the cellular memory dramatically decrease the efficiency of reprogramming cells, act like a barrier against reprogramming in the majority of cells, and activate immune responses. Accordingly, the focus of this review is mainly to describe the cellular memory disc (CMD). Based on the present theory, cellular memory includes three parts: a reprogramming-resistance memory (RRM), a switch-promoting memory (SPM) and a culture-induced memory (CIM). The cellular memory arises genetically, epigenetically and non-genetically and affects cellular behaviours. [corrected].

Optical Response of Fluorescent Molecules Studied by Synthetic Femtosecond Laser Pulses

The optical response of the fluorescent molecule IR144 in solution is probed by pairs of collinear pulses with intensity just above the linear dependence using two different pulse shaping methods. The first approach mimics a Michelson interferometer, while the second approach, known as multiple independent comb shaping (MICS), eliminates spectral interference. The comparison of interfering and non-interfering pulses reveals that linear interference between the pulses leads to the loss of experimental information at early delay times. In both cases, the delay between the pulses is controlled with attosecond resolution and the sample fluorescence and stimulated emission are monitored simultaneously. An out-of-phase behavior is observed for fluorescence and stimulated emission, with the fluorescence signal having a minimum at zero time delay. Experimental findings are modeled using a two-level system with relaxation that closely matches the phase difference between fluorescence and stimulated emission and the relative intensities of the measured effects.

Analysis of circular wave packets generated by pulsed electric fields

We demonstrate that circular wave packets in high Rydberg states generated by a pulsed electric field applied to extreme Stark states are characterized by a position-dependent energy gradient that leads to a correlation between the principal quantum number n and the spatial coordinate. This correlation is rather insensitive to the initial state and can be seen even in an incoherent mix of states such as is generated experimentally allowing information to be placed into, and extracted from, such wave packets. We show that detailed information on the spatial distribution of a circular wave packet can be extracted by analyzing the complex phase of its expansion coefficients.

Chirp and polarization control of femtosecond molecular fragmentation

We explore the simultaneous effect of chirp and polarization as the two control parameters for non-resonant photo-dissociation of n-propyl benzene. Experiments performed over a wide range of laser intensities show that these two control knobs behave mutually exclusively. Specifically, for the coherently enhanced fragments (C3H3+, C5H5+) with negatively chirped pulses and C6H5+ with positively chirped pulses, polarization effect is the same as compared to that in the case of transform-limited pulses. Though a change in polarization affects the overall fragmentation efficiency, the fragmentation pattern of n-propyl benzene molecule remains unaffected in contrast to the chirp case.

OPTIMALLY CONTROLLED VIBRATIONAL POPULATION TRANSFER IN A DIATOMIC QUANTUM SYSTEM

A time-dependent formulation of quantum control is employed to investigate optimally controlled vibrational population transfer in a diatomic quantum system. The problem of finding the optimal laser field needed to achieve a specific quantum transition from an initial state to the desired target goal is formulated using an iterative method and the conjugate gradient method (CGM). The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved with interaction of laser radiation with matter included within a dipole approximation in the Hamiltonian. Appropriate boundary conditions are chosen for the evolution problem. The control objective is chosen as the value of transition probability from an initial state to a target state. A comparison is made between the results obtained using the iterative method and the CGM for optimization. Finally, quantum bits are encoded using the vibrational states of the diatomic in the regime of low-vibrational excitation.

Quantum gate operations using midinfrared binary shaped pulses on the rovibrational states of carbon monoxide

Frequency domain shaped binary laser pulses were optimized to perform 2 qubit quantum gate operations in (12)C(16)O. The qubit rovibrational state representation was chosen so that all gate operations consisted of one-photon transitions. The amplitude and phase varied binary pulses were determined using a genetic algorithm optimization routine. Binary pulses have two possible amplitudes, 0 or 1, and two phases, 0 or pi, for each frequency component of the pulse. Binary pulses are the simplest to shape experimentally and provide a minimum fidelity limit for amplitude and phase shaped pulses. With the current choice of qubit representation and using optimized binary pulses, fidelities of 0.80 and as high as 0.97 were achieved for the controlled-NOT and alternative controlled-NOT quantum gates. This indicates that with a judicious choice of qubits, most of the required control can be obtained with a binary pulse. Limited control was observed for 2 qubit NOT and Hadamard gates due to the need to control multiple excitations. The current choice of qubit representation produces pulses with decreased energies and superior fidelities when compared with rovibrational qubit representations consisting of two-photon transitions. The choice of input pulse energy is important and applying pulses of increased energy does not necessarily lead to a better fidelity.

Wave-Packet and Coherent Control Dynamics

This review summarizes progress in coherent control as well as relevant recent achievements, highlighting, among several different schemes of coherent control, wave-packet interferometry (WPI). WPI is a fundamental and versatile scenario used to control a variety of quantum systems with a sequence of short laser pulses whose relative phase is finely adjusted to control the interference of electronic or nuclear wave packets (WPs). It is also useful in retrieving quantum information such as the amplitudes and phases of eigenfunctions superposed to generate a WP. Experimental and theoretical efforts to retrieve both the amplitude and phase information are recounted. This review also discusses information processing based on the eigenfunctions of atoms and molecules as one of the modern and future applications of coherent control. The ultrafast coherent control of ultracold atoms and molecules and the coherent control of complex systems are briefly discussed as future perspectives.

Alkaline-earth-metal atoms as few-qubit quantum registers

We propose and analyze a novel approach to quantum information processing, in which multiple qubits can be encoded and manipulated using electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom associated with individual alkaline-earth-metal atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Specifically, we describe how the qubits within each register can be individually manipulated and measured with subwavelength optical resolution. We also show how such few-qubit registers can be coupled to each other in optical superlattices via conditional tunneling to form a scalable quantum network. Finally, potential applications to quantum computation and precision measurements are discussed.

Enhanced factoring with a bose-einstein condensate

We present a novel method to realize analog sum computation with a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice potential subject to controlled phase jumps. We use the method to implement the Gauss sum algorithm for factoring numbers. By exploiting higher order quantum momentum states, we are able to improve the algorithm's accuracy beyond the limits of the usual classical implementation.

Factorization of numbers with the temporal Talbot effect: optical implementation by a sequence of shaped ultrashort pulses

We report on the successful operation of an analogue computer designed to factor numbers. Our device relies solely on the interference of classical light and brings together the field of ultrashort laser pulses with number theory. Indeed, the frequency component of the electric field corresponding to a sequence of appropriately shaped femtosecond pulses is determined by a Gauss sum which allows us to find the factors of a number.

Development of ultrahigh-precision coherent control and its applications

Coherent control is based on optical manipulation of the amplitudes and phases of wave functions. It is expected to be a key technique to develop novel quantum technologies such as bond-selective chemistry and quantum computing, and to better understand the quantum worldview founded on wave-particle duality. We have developed high-precision coherent control by imprinting optical amplitudes and phases of ultrashort laser pulses on the quantum amplitudes and phases of molecular wave functions. The history and perspective of coherent control and our recent achievements are described.

Quantum computing with collective ensembles of multilevel systems

We propose a new physical approach for encoding and processing of quantum information in ensembles of multilevel quantum systems, where the different bits are not carried by individual particles but associated with the collective population of different internal levels. One- and two-bit gates are implemented by collective internal state transitions taking place in the presence of an excitation blockade mechanism, which restricts the population of each internal state to the values zero and unity. Quantum computers with 10-20 bits can be built via this scheme in single trapped clouds of ground state atoms subject to the Rydberg excitation blockade mechanism, and the linear dependence between register size and the number of internal quantum states in atoms offers realistic means to reach larger registers.

Probing coherence aspects of adiabatic quantum computation and control

Quantum interference between multiple excitation pathways can be used to cancel the couplings to the unwanted, nonradiative channels resulting in robustly controlling decoherence through adiabatic coherent control approaches. We propose a useful quantification of the two-level character in a multilevel system by considering the evolution of the coherent character in the quantum system as represented by the off-diagonal density matrix elements, which switches from real to imaginary as the excitation process changes from being resonant to completely adiabatic. Such counterintuitive results can be explained in terms of continuous population exchange in comparison to no population exchange under the adiabatic condition.

Knill-Laflamme-Milburn quantum computation with bosonic atoms

A Knill-Laflamme-Milburn (KLM) type quantum computation with bosonic neutral atoms or bosonic ions is suggested. Crucially, as opposite to other quantum computation schemes involving atoms (ions), no controlled interactions between atoms (ions) involving their internal levels are required. Versus photonic KLM computation, this scheme has the advantage that single-atom (ion) sources are more natural than single-photon sources, and single-atom (ion) detectors are far more efficient than single-photon ones.

Coherent control of population transfer in Rydberg atoms via chirped microwave pulses

We present a comprehensive and ab initio nonperturbative investigation of the coherent population transfer among the 3D high-lying Rydberg hydrogen and alkali atomic states via linearly polarized chirped microwave pulses. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the dynamical evolution of Rydberg atoms is accurately and efficiently solved by means of the time-dependent generalized pseudospectral method. For atomic H, the population transfer from n = 35 to 30 with nearly 100% efficiency is achieved by means of the sequential two-photon Deltan = -1 transitions. The calculation fully utilizes all of the available orbital angular momentum l states for a given n, and the interference pattern and population evolution dynamics of individual l states are analyzed in detail. It is shown that the coherent control of the population transfer from the high n to the low n states can be accomplished by the optimization of the chirping parameters and microwave field strength. Similar analysis is performed for the Na atom, where the alkali atomic structure is described by an accurate model potential. We found that while the global population transfer pattern is qualitatively similar, there are significant differences in the dynamical response of atomic H and Na to the chirped microwave fields. Due to the degeneracy of the l states (for a given n) in unperturbed atomic H, the population transfer involves significant coupling and interference among a number of low-lying l states. For the case of Na atoms, however, the population transfer from the n to (n - 1) state is dominated by a single channel, namely, from the |n,l = 0> to the |n - 1,l = 0> state.

Electric dipole echoes in Rydberg atoms

We report the first observation of echoes in the electric dipole moment of an ensemble of Rydberg atoms precessing in an external electric field F. Rapid reversal of the field direction is shown to play a role similar to that of a pi pulse in NMR in rephasing a dephased ensemble of electric dipoles resulting in the buildup of an echo. The mechanisms responsible for this are discussed with the aid of classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations.

Vibrationally State-Selective Spin−Orbit Transfer with Strong Nonresonant Pulses

By dynamic Stark shift using strong nonresonant pulses, we show that it is in principle possible to prepare arbitrary superposition states of mixed multiplicity. By a proper choice of parameters, the transfer of population is shown to follow the Rabi formula, where the initial and target states are now vibrational states of two light-induced molecular potentials of different multiplicity. Starting from nonstationary wave packets, the spin transfer can proceed via parallel transfer using a single pulse or by sequential transfer using a pulse sequence. A simple model is proposed to analyze the properties of both schemes and the feasibility of their experimental implementation for spin-orbit transitions in Rb2.

High-speed linear optics quantum computing using active feed-forward

As information carriers in quantum computing, photonic qubits have the advantage of undergoing negligible decoherence. However, the absence of any significant photon-photon interaction is problematic for the realization of non-trivial two-qubit gates. One solution is to introduce an effective nonlinearity by measurements resulting in probabilistic gate operations. In one-way quantum computation, the random quantum measurement error can be overcome by applying a feed-forward technique, such that the future measurement basis depends on earlier measurement results. This technique is crucial for achieving deterministic quantum computation once a cluster state (the highly entangled multiparticle state on which one-way quantum computation is based) is prepared. Here we realize a concatenated scheme of measurement and active feed-forward in a one-way quantum computing experiment. We demonstrate that, for a perfect cluster state and no photon loss, our quantum computation scheme would operate with good fidelity and that our feed-forward components function with very high speed and low error for detected photons. With present technology, the individual computational step (in our case the individual feed-forward cycle) can be operated in less than 150 ns using electro-optical modulators. This is an important result for the future development of one-way quantum computers, whose large-scale implementation will depend on advances in the production and detection of the required highly entangled cluster states.

Adiabatic quantum computing with phase modulated laser pulses

Implementation of quantum logical gates for multilevel systems is demonstrated through decoherence control under the quantum adiabatic method using simple phase modulated laser pulses. We make use of selective population inversion and Hamiltonian evolution with time to achieve such goals robustly instead of the standard unitary transformation language.

Navigating localized wave packets in phase space

The ability to localize and to steer Rydberg wave packets in phase space using tailored sequences of half-cycle pulses is demonstrated. Classical phase-space portraits are used to explain the method and to illustrate the level of control that can be achieved. This is confirmed experimentally by positioning a phase-space-localized wave packet at the center of a stable island or navigating it around its periphery. This work provides a valuable starting point for further engineering of electronic wave functions.

Resonance-assisted decay of nondispersive wave packets

We present a quantitative semiclassical theory for the decay of nondispersive electronic wave packets in driven, ionizing Rydberg systems. Statistically robust quantities are extracted combining resonance-assisted tunneling with subsequent transport across chaotic phase space and a final ionization step.

Preserving coherence in Rydberg quantum bits

The effectiveness of decoherence suppression schemes is explored using quantum bits (qubits) stored in Li np Rydberg states. Following laser excitation, pulsed electric fields coherently control the electronic spin-orbit coupling, facilitating qubit creation, manipulation, and measurement. Spin-orbit coupling creates an approximate decoherence-free subspace for extending qubit storage times. However, sequences of fast NOT operations are found to be substantially more effective for preserving coherence.

Implementation of quantum gate operations in molecules with weak laser fields

We numerically propose a way to perform quantum computations by combining an ensemble of molecular states and weak laser pulses. A logical input state is expressed as a superposition state (a wave packet) of molecular states, which is initially prepared by a designed femtosecond laser pulse. The free propagation of the wave packet for a specified time interval leads to the specified change in the relative phases among the molecular basis states, which corresponds to a computational result. The computational results are retrieved by means of quantum interferometry. Numerical tests are implemented in the vibrational states of the B state of I2 employing controlled-NOT gate, and 2 and 3 qubits Fourier transforms. All the steps involved in the computational scheme, i.e., the initial preparation, gate operation, and detection steps, are achieved with extremely high precision.

Real-time observation of phase-controlled molecular wave-packet interference

The quantum interference of two molecular wave packets has been precisely controlled in the B electronic state of the I2 molecule by using a pair of fs laser pulses whose relative phase is locked within the attosecond time scale and its real-time evolution has been observed by another fs laser pulse. It is clearly observed that the temporal evolution changes drastically as a function of the relative phase between the locked pulses, allowing us to read both amplitude and phase information stored in the wave functions of the molecular ensemble.

Control of spontaneous emission in the presence of collisions

We explore the coherent suppression of spontaneous emission processes in the presence of decoherence due to collisions with an external bath.

Control of diabatic versus adiabatic field dissociation in a heavy Rydberg system

A novel phenomenon is observed in the dynamics of laser-prepared coherent wave packets, bound by the Coulombic 1/r potential of an ion-pair system. After exciting weakly bound (approximately 3 meV) H(+)(-) wave packets in a Stark field, and permitting them to evolve in time, control of field dissociation via adiabatic and diabatic routes is demonstrated by applying delayed pulsed-electric fields, involving a zero-field crossing. Control manifests itself through the production of ions from each pathway at a different instant in time. This phenomenon is applied to map the oscillatory behavior of an angular momentum wave packet in a heavy Rydberg system. The characteristic frequencies of the observed Stark oscillations verify predicted mass-scaling laws for heavy Rydberg systems.

Multiphoton coherent control in complex systems

Control of multiphoton transitions is demonstrated for a multilevel system by generalizing the instantaneous phase of any chirped pulse as individual terms of a Taylor series expansion. In the case of a simple two-level system, all odd terms in the series lead to population inversion while the even terms lead to self-induced transparency. The results hold for multiphoton transitions that do not have any lower-order photon resonance or any intermediate virtual state dynamics within the laser pulse width.

Correlation quantum dynamics between an electron and D+2 molecule with attosecond resolution

Recently, Niikura et al. [Nature (London) 421, 826 (2003)] have applied the entanglement approach to exploit the correlation between the electronic and nuclear wave packets. Here, we use the time-dependent-wave-packet method to calculate the kinetic energy distribution of the D+ ion resulting from the recollision between an electron and its parent ion D+2(X2Sigma+g) within the attoseconds time scale. Our theoretical results of the D+ ion kinetic energy spectra accord well with the experimental ones, and the recollision probabilities between the electron and the D+2 molecule have been calculated.

RYDBERG WAVEPACKETS IN MOLECULES: From Observation to Control

▪ Abstract  Significant advances in laser technology have led to an increasing interest in the time evolution of Rydberg wavepackets as a means to understanding, and ultimately controlling, quantum phenomena. Rydberg wavepackets in molecules are particularly interesting as they possess many of the dynamical complications of large molecules, such as nonadiabatic coupling between the various degrees of freedom, yet they remain tractable experimentally and theoretically. This review explains in detail how the method of interfering wavepackets can be applied to observe and control Rydberg wavepackets in molecules; it discusses the achievements to date and the possibilities for the future.