Laser-cooled atoms offer an excellent platform for testing new ideas of quantum control and measurement. I will discuss experiments where we use light and magnetic fields to drive and monitor non-trivial quantum dynamics of a large spin-angular momentum associated with an atomic hyperfine ground state. We can design Hamiltonians to generate arbitrary spin states and perform a full quantum state reconstruction of the results. We have implemented and verified time optimal controls to generate a broad variety of spin states, including spin-squeezed states useful for metrology. Yields achieved are of the range 0.8-0.9.We present a first experimental demonstration of the quantum kicked top, a popular paradigm for quantum and classical chaos. We make `movies' of the evolving quantum state which provides a direct observation of phase space dynamics of this system. The spin dynamics seen in the experiment includes dynamical tunneling between regular islands, rapid spreading of states throughout the chaotic sea, and surprisingly robust signatures of classical phase space structures. Our data show differences between regular and chaotic dynamics in the sensitivity to perturbations of the quantum kicked top Hamiltonian and in the average electron-nuclear spin entanglement during the first 40 kicks. The difference, while clear, is modest due to the small size of the spin.

Inicialmente, os conceitos fundamentais e a problemática básica subjacentes ao Controle de Sistemas Quânticos são apresentados, destacando-se, por exemplo, as questões físicas e dinâmicas envolvidas, os principais tipos e metodologias de controle no contexto quântico, bem como aplicações existentes e potenciais de Controle Quântico, muitas das quais situando-se na vanguarda da Ciência e da Tecnologia. Segue-se uma exposição do arcabouço teórico básico e do formalismo padrão da Mecânica Quântica, tendo em vista prover os elementos necessários à compreensão de sistemas quânticos, sua dinâmica e seu controle. O conceito de Controlabilidade é, então, apresentado no contexto de Sistemas Quânticos. Em seqüência, os fundamentos do Controle Quântico Ótimo são desenvolvidos como uma extensão da Teoria Clássica de Controle Ótimo, apresentando-se exemplos de aplicações. Ao problema da transferência de estados quânticos para um estado-alvo em tempo mínimo é devotada especial atenção, dada sua grande relevância em aplicações tecnológicas de ponta, como em Computação Quântica e Processamento de Informação Quântica. A partir de limitações físicas que são inerentes a qualquer sistema quântico, no tocante ao tempo mínimo necessário para que ocorra uma transição de estados, propõem-se Fatores de Mérito para quantificar a eficiência dos controles quânticos ótimos que minimizam o tempo de transferência de estados. Exemplos de aplicação, estudos teóricos e estudos de casos são levados a cabo para a definição dos Fatores de Mérito associados. Este trabalho termina com estudos relativos a uma possível formulação da Teoria de Controle Quântico Ótimo em termos de Integrais de Trajetória para o tratamento de sistemas quânticos contínuos, em especial, o controle espaço-temporal de partículas quânticas. Um possível emprego do Efeito Aharonov-Bohm é também discutido como estratégia de Controle Quântico. / Firstly, the fundamental concepts and the basic issues concerning the Control of Quantum Systems are presented, highlighting, for example, related physical and dynamical questions, the main control types and methodologies in the quantum context, as well as current and potential applications of Quantum Control, many of them situated on the avant-garde of Science and Technology. Then follows an exposition of the basic theoretical framework and the standard formalism of Quantum Mechanics, whose aim is to provide the necessary elements for understanding quantum systems, quantum dynamics and control. The concept of Controlability is then presented in the context of Quantum Systems. Subsequently, the fundamental concepts of Quantum Optimal Control are developed as an extension of the Classical Optimal Control Theory, featuring some examples of application. To the problem of transfering quantum states to a certain target state at minimal time a special attention is devoted, having in mind its great relevance in state-of-art technological applications, e.g., Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Processing. From physical limitations that are inherent to any quantum systems, regarding the minimal time necessary to perform a state transition, one proposes Figures of Merit in order to quantify the efficiency of optimal quantum controls which minimize the state transfer time. Examples of applications, theoretical studies and case studies are carried out in order to define the associated Figures of Merit. This work ends with studies concerning a possible formulation of Optimal Quantum Control Theory in terms of Path Integrals for handling continuous quantum systems, particularly, the space-time control of quantum particles. A possible use of the Aharonov-Bohm Effect is also discussed as a Quantum Control strategy.

Dans le cadre du contrôle quantique bilinéaire, cette thèse étudie la possibilité de retrouver l'Hamiltonien et/ou le moment dipolaire à l'aide de mesures d'observables pour un ensemble grand de contrôles. Si l'implémentation du contrôle fait intervenir des bruits alors les mesures prennent la forme de distributions de probabilité. Nous montrons qu'il y a toujours unicité (à des phases près) des Hamiltoniens de du moment dipolaire retrouvés. Plusieurs modèles de bruit sont étudiés: bruit discrète constant additif et multiplicatif ainsi qu'un modèle de bruit dans les phases sous forme de processus Gaussien. Les résultats théoriques sont illustrés par des implémentations numériques. / The problem of recovering the Hamiltonian and dipole moment, termed inversion, is considered in a bilinear quantum control framework. The process uses as inputs some measurable quantities (observables) for each admissible control. If the implementation of the control is noisy the data available is only in the form of probability laws of the measured observable. Nevertheless it is proved that the inversion process still has unique solutions (up to phase factors). Several models of noise are considered including the discrete noise model, the multiplicative amplitude noise model and a Gaussian process phase model. Both theoretical and numerical results are established.

Dans cette thèse, nous développons des méthodes de contrôle pour stabiliser des systèmes quantiques en temps continu sous mesures quantiques non-destructives. En boucle ouverte, ces systèmes convergent vers un état propre de l'opérateur de mesure, mais l'état résultant est aléatoire. Le rôle du contrôle est de préparer un état prescrit avec une probabilité de un. Le nouvel élément pour atteindre cet objectif est l'utilisation d'un mouvement Brownien pour piloter les actions de contrôle. En utilisant la théorie stochastique de Lyapunov, nous montrons stabilité exponentielle globale du système en boucle fermés. Nous explorons aussi la syntèse du contrôle pour stabiliser un code correcteur d'erreurs quantiques en temps continu. Un autre sujet d'intérêt est l'implementation de contrôles efficacement calculables dans un contexte expérimental. Dans cette direction, nous proposons l'utilisation de contrôles et filtres qui calculent seulement les characteristiques classiques du système, correspondant a la base propre de l'opérateur de mesure. La formulation de dites filtres est importante pour adresser les problèmes de scalabilité du filtre posées par l'avancement des technologies quantiques. / In this thesis, we develop control methods to stabilize quantum systems in continuous-time subject to quantum nondemolition measurements. In open-loop such quantum systems converge towards a random eigenstate of the measurement operator. The role of feedback is to prepare a prescribed eigenstate with unit probability. The novel element to achieve this is the introduction of an exogenous Brownian motion to drive the control actions. By using standard stochastic Lyapunov techniques, we show global exponential stability of the closed-loop dynamics. We explore as well the design of the control layer for a quantum error correction scheme in continuous-time. Another theme of interest is towards the implementation of efficiently computable control laws in experimental settings. In this direction, we propose the use control laws and of reduced-order filters which only track classical characteristics of the system, corresponding to the populations on the measurement eigenbasis. The formulation of these reduced filters is important to address the scalability issues of the filter posed by the advancement of quantum technologies.

Este trabalho aborda o problema da inversão do vetor momento magnético, com ampla aplicação na Ressonância Nuclear Magnética (RNM). Em vez de uma sequência de impulsos e de abordarmos somente o problema de conduzir o vetor de -e3 para +e3, escolhemos uma lei de controle limitada e analisamos o processo de várias iterações (voltas completas). Através do método da medianização, obtemos uma solução explícita aproximada para o sistema e, através dela e de alguns teoremas auxiliares sobre rotações, discutimos a propagação do erro em módulo e fase cometido após a realização dessas iterações. / This dissertation considers the problem of inversion of the magnetic moment vector, with wide application in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Instead of a pulse sequence and only approach the problem of driving the vector from -e3 to +e3, we choose limited controls and we analyze several iterations of the process (laps). By the averaging method, we obtain an approximate explicit solution for the system and through this method, together with some auxiliary theorems on rotations, we discuss the propagation of error in magnitude and phase committed after performing these iterations.

Ultracold atoms provide a powerful tool for studying quantum control of interacting many-body systems with well-characterized and controllable Hamiltonians. In this thesis, we demonstrate quantum control of a many-body system consisting of a ferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). By tuning the Hamiltonian of the system, we can generate either a phase space with an unstable hyperbolic fixed point or a phase space with an elliptical fixed point. A classical pendulum with a stable oscillation about the "down" position and an inverted pendulum with unstable non-equilibrium dynamics about the "up" position are classical analogs of the quantum spin dynamics we investigate in this thesis. In one experiment, we dynamically stabilize the system about an unstable hyperbolic fixed point, which is similar to stabilizing an inverted pendulum. In a second experiment, we parametrically excite the system by modulating the quadratic Zeeman energy. In addition, we demonstrate rectifier phase control as a new method to manipulate the quantum states of the many-body system. This is similar to parametric excitation and manipulation of the oscillation angle of a classical pendulum. These experiments demonstrate the ability to control a quantum system realized in a spinor BEC, and they also can be applied to other quantum systems. In addition, we extend our studies to atoms above the Bose-Einstein transition temperature, and we present results on thermal spin relaxation processes and equilibrium spin populations.

Este trabalho aborda o problema da inversão do vetor momento magnético, com ampla aplicação na Ressonância Nuclear Magnética (RNM). Em vez de uma sequência de impulsos e de abordarmos somente o problema de conduzir o vetor de -e3 para +e3, escolhemos uma lei de controle limitada e analisamos o processo de várias iterações (voltas completas). Através do método da medianização, obtemos uma solução explícita aproximada para o sistema e, através dela e de alguns teoremas auxiliares sobre rotações, discutimos a propagação do erro em módulo e fase cometido após a realização dessas iterações. / This dissertation considers the problem of inversion of the magnetic moment vector, with wide application in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Instead of a pulse sequence and only approach the problem of driving the vector from -e3 to +e3, we choose limited controls and we analyze several iterations of the process (laps). By the averaging method, we obtain an approximate explicit solution for the system and through this method, together with some auxiliary theorems on rotations, we discuss the propagation of error in magnitude and phase committed after performing these iterations.

Cette thèse s'intéresse au problème de préparation et de stabilisation de systèmes quantiques. Nous considérons des modèles correspondant à des expériences actuelles en électrodynamique quantique en cavité, circuits Josephson, et de contrôle quantique cohérent par laser femtoseconde. Nous posons les problèmes dans le contexte de la théorie du contrôle et nous proposons des lois de commande qui préparent ou stabilisent des états cibles. En particulier, nous nous intéressons à des états cibles qui n'ont pas d'analogue classique: des états superpositions et intriqués. De plus, nous proposons une commande pour la stabilisation d'un sous-espace de l'espace des états, contribuant ainsi au domaine de la correction d'erreur quantique. Ces résultats ont été obtenu en étroite collaboration avec des expérimentateurs. Des mesures expérimentales préliminaires sont en bon accord avec certaines prédictions théoriques de cette thèse. / This thesis tackles the problem of preparing and stabilizing highly non classical states of quantum systems. We consider specific models based on current experiments in cavity quantum electrodynamics, Josephson circuits and ultra-fast coherent quantum control. The problem is posed in the framework of control theory where we search for a control law which prepares or stabilizes a desired target state.Of particular interest to us are target states with no classical analog: superposition and entangled states. More generally, we propose a scheme for the stabilization of a manifold of quantum states, thus introducing some new ideas for autonomous quantum error correction in a cavity. Close collaborations with experimentalists helped us in the design of control protocols which are readily employable in the laboratory. Experimental demonstrations are currently being implemented and preliminary measurements are in good agreement with the theory introduced in this thesis.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude des trajectoires quantiques issues de la théorie desmesures continues en mécanique quantique non relativiste. On y présente de nouveaux résultatsthéoriques ainsi que des exemples d’applications. Sur le front théorique, on étudie principalementla limite de mesure «forte» dans laquelle on met en évidence l’émergence de sauts quantiques etd’échardes quantiques, deux phénomènes dont on précise la statistique. Hors de la limite forte, onpropose une méthode d’extraction optimale d’information pour un registre de qubits. Sur le frontdes applications, on introduit une méthode originale de contrôle utilisant l’intensité de la mesurecomme unique variable et on explique la transition balistique-diffusif dans les marches aléatoiresquantiques ouvertes; deux sous produits de l’étude théorique préalable des situations de mesureforte. On s’intéresse aussi au problème de la gravité semi-classique et montre que la théorie desmesures continues peut permettre d’en construire un modèle cohérent à la limite newtonienne. Onsuggère enfin quelques extensions possibles de la théorie à l’estimation a posteriori et d’éventuellesgénéralisations des résultats théoriques à des situations de mesures répétées discrètes. Dans laprésentation des résultats, l’accent est mis davantage sur l’explicitation des liens entre les multiplespoints de vue possibles sur les trajectoires quantiques (parallèles avec la théorie classique du filtrageet les modèles de collapse objectif utilisés dans les fondements) que sur la rigueur mathématique. / This thesis is devoted to the study of the quantum trajectories obtained from thetheory of continuous measurement in non relativistic quantum mechanics. New theoretical resultsas well as examples of applications are presented. On the theoretical front, we study mostly thelimit of «strong» measurement where we put forward the emergence of quantum jumps and quantumspikes, two phenomena we characterize in detail. Out of the strong measurement limit, weinvestigate a method to extract information from a register of qubits optimally. On the applicationfront, we introduce an original method to control quantum systems exploiting only the freedomof changing the measurement intensity and we explain the transition between a ballistic and adiffusive behavior in open quantum random walks; two byproduct of the theoretical study of thestrong measurement regime. We further study the problem of semi-classical gravity and show thatcontinuous measurement theory allows to construct a consistent model in the Newtonian regime.We eventually suggest possible extensions of the formalism to a posteriori estimation and hint atgeneralizations of the results for the strong measurement limit in the wider context of discreterepeated measurements. In the course of our presentation, we emphasize the link with other approachesto the theory of continuous measurement (parallels with stochastic filtering and collapsemodels in foundations) rather than aim for mathematical rigor.

La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à l'élaboration théorique de processus adiabatiques permettant le transfert de population entre un état initial et un état cible d'un système quantique. La stratégie du passage adiabatique parallèle pour laquelle les paramètres de couplage sont conçus de telle sorte que la différence des valeurs propres du système reste constante à chaque instant, permet de minimiser à zéro les transitions non-adiabatiques données par la formule DDP. Cette technique permet de combiner à la fois l'efficacité énergétique des méthodes impulsion-pi et la robustesse du passage adiabatique. La seconde partie de cette thèse concerne les effets de la dissipation sur le passage adiabatique. La formule de probabilité de transition d'un système à deux niveaux tenant compte des effets de la dissipation est établie. Cette formule permet de reformuler la solution générale d'un système dissipatif à deux niveaux dans la limite adiabatique qui est valable au-delà du régime de faible dissipation. / The first part of this thesis is devoted to the theoretical analysis of adiabatic processes allowing the transfer of population from an initial state to a target state of a quantum system. The strategy of parallel adiabatic passage, in which the coupling parameters are specifically designed to optimize the adiabatic passage corresponding to parallel eigenvalues at all times, allows one to combine the energetically efficiency of pi-pulse and related strategies with the robustness of standard adiabaticpassage. The second part of this thesis concerns the effects of the dissipation in adiabatic passage. The non-adiabatic transition probability formula of a two state system with dissipation is established. This formula allows on in particular to derive the general solution of a dissipative two-level system in the adiabatic limit which is valid beyond weak dissipation regimes.