This thesis addresses the problem of developing a quantum counter-part of the well established classical theory of control. We dwell on the fundamental fact that quantum states are generally not perfectly distinguishable, and quantum measurements typically introduce noise in the system being measured. Because of these, it is generally not clear whether the central concept of the classical control theory --- that of observing the system and then applying feedback --- is always useful in the quantum setting. We center our investigations around the problem of transforming the state of a quantum system into a given target state, when the system can be prepared in different ways, and the target state depends on the choice of preparation. We call this the "quantum tracking problem" and show how it can be formulated as an optimization problem that can be approached both numerically and analytically. This problem provides a simple route to the characterization of the quantum trade-off between information gain and disturbance, and is seen to have several applications in quantum information. In order to characterize the optimality of our tracking procedures, some figure-of-merit has to be specified. Naturally, distance measures for quantum states are the ideal candidates for this purpose. We investigated several possibilities, and found that there is usually a compromise between physically motivated and mathematically tractable measures. We also introduce an alternative to the Uhlmann-Jozsa fidelity for mixed quantum states, which besides reproducing a number of properties of the standard fidelity, is especially attractive because it is simpler to compute. We employ some ideas of convex analysis to construct optimal control schemes analytically. In particular, we obtain analytic forms of optimal controllers for stabilizing and tracking any pair of states of a single-qubit. In the case of stabilization, we find that feedback control is always useful, but because of the trade-off between information gain and disturbance, somewhat different from the type of feedback performed in classical systems. In the case of tracking, we find that feedback is not always useful, meaning that depending on the choice of states one wants to achieve, it may be better not to introduce any noise by the application of quantum measurements. We also demonstrate that our optimal controllers are immediately applicable in several quantum information applications such as state-dependent cloning, purification, stabilization, and discrimination. In all of these cases, we were able to recover and extend previously known optimal strategies and performances. Finally we show how optimal single-step control schemes can be concatenated to provide multi-step strategies that usually over-perform optimal control protocols based on a single interaction between the controller and the system.

This thesis addresses the problem of developing a quantum counter-part of the well established classical theory of control. We dwell on the fundamental fact that quantum states are generally not perfectly distinguishable, and quantum measurements typically introduce noise in the system being measured. Because of these, it is generally not clear whether the central concept of the classical control theory --- that of observing the system and then applying feedback --- is always useful in the quantum setting. We center our investigations around the problem of transforming the state of a quantum system into a given target state, when the system can be prepared in different ways, and the target state depends on the choice of preparation. We call this the "quantum tracking problem" and show how it can be formulated as an optimization problem that can be approached both numerically and analytically. This problem provides a simple route to the characterization of the quantum trade-off between information gain and disturbance, and is seen to have several applications in quantum information. In order to characterize the optimality of our tracking procedures, some figure-of-merit has to be specified. Naturally, distance measures for quantum states are the ideal candidates for this purpose. We investigated several possibilities, and found that there is usually a compromise between physically motivated and mathematically tractable measures. We also introduce an alternative to the Uhlmann-Jozsa fidelity for mixed quantum states, which besides reproducing a number of properties of the standard fidelity, is especially attractive because it is simpler to compute. We employ some ideas of convex analysis to construct optimal control schemes analytically. In particular, we obtain analytic forms of optimal controllers for stabilizing and tracking any pair of states of a single-qubit. In the case of stabilization, we find that feedback control is always useful, but because of the trade-off between information gain and disturbance, somewhat different from the type of feedback performed in classical systems. In the case of tracking, we find that feedback is not always useful, meaning that depending on the choice of states one wants to achieve, it may be better not to introduce any noise by the application of quantum measurements. We also demonstrate that our optimal controllers are immediately applicable in several quantum information applications such as state-dependent cloning, purification, stabilization, and discrimination. In all of these cases, we were able to recover and extend previously known optimal strategies and performances. Finally we show how optimal single-step control schemes can be concatenated to provide multi-step strategies that usually over-perform optimal control protocols based on a single interaction between the controller and the system.

This thesis addresses the problem of developing a quantum counter-part of the well established classical theory of control. We dwell on the fundamental fact that quantum states are generally not perfectly distinguishable, and quantum measurements typically introduce noise in the system being measured. Because of these, it is generally not clear whether the central concept of the classical control theory --- that of observing the system and then applying feedback --- is always useful in the quantum setting. We center our investigations around the problem of transforming the state of a quantum system into a given target state, when the system can be prepared in different ways, and the target state depends on the choice of preparation. We call this the "quantum tracking problem" and show how it can be formulated as an optimization problem that can be approached both numerically and analytically. This problem provides a simple route to the characterization of the quantum trade-off between information gain and disturbance, and is seen to have several applications in quantum information. In order to characterize the optimality of our tracking procedures, some figure-of-merit has to be specified. Naturally, distance measures for quantum states are the ideal candidates for this purpose. We investigated several possibilities, and found that there is usually a compromise between physically motivated and mathematically tractable measures. We also introduce an alternative to the Uhlmann-Jozsa fidelity for mixed quantum states, which besides reproducing a number of properties of the standard fidelity, is especially attractive because it is simpler to compute. We employ some ideas of convex analysis to construct optimal control schemes analytically. In particular, we obtain analytic forms of optimal controllers for stabilizing and tracking any pair of states of a single-qubit. In the case of stabilization, we find that feedback control is always useful, but because of the trade-off between information gain and disturbance, somewhat different from the type of feedback performed in classical systems. In the case of tracking, we find that feedback is not always useful, meaning that depending on the choice of states one wants to achieve, it may be better not to introduce any noise by the application of quantum measurements. We also demonstrate that our optimal controllers are immediately applicable in several quantum information applications such as state-dependent cloning, purification, stabilization, and discrimination. In all of these cases, we were able to recover and extend previously known optimal strategies and performances. Finally we show how optimal single-step control schemes can be concatenated to provide multi-step strategies that usually over-perform optimal control protocols based on a single interaction between the controller and the system.

A quantum channel is a mapping which sends density matrices to density matrices. The estimation of quantum channels is of great importance to the field of quantum information. In this thesis two topics related to estimation of quantum channels are investigated. The first of these is the upper bound of Sarovar and Milburn (2006) on the Fisher information obtainable by measuring the output of a channel. Two questions raised by Sarovar and Milburn about their bound are answered. A Riemannian metric on the space of quantum states is introduced, related to the construction of the Sarovar and Milburn bound. Its properties are characterized. The second topic investigated is the estimation of unitary channels. The situation is considered in which an experimenter has several non-identical unitary channels that have the same parameter. It is shown that it is possible to improve estimation using the channels together, analogous to the case of identical unitary channels. Also, a new method of phase estimation is given based on a method sketched by Kitaev (1996). Unlike other phase estimation procedures which perform similarly, this procedure requires only very basic experimental resources.

We explore the connection between quantum error correction and quantum cryptography through the notion of conjugate (or complementary) channels. This connection is at the level of subspaces and operator subsystems; if we use a more general form of subsystem, the link between the two topics breaks down. We explore both the subspace and subsystem settings. Error correction arises as a means of addressing the issue of the introduction of noise to a message being sent from one party to another. Noise also plays a role in quantum measurement theory: If one wishes to measure a system that is in a particular state via a measurement apparatus, one can first act upon the system by a quantum channel, which can be thought of as a noise source, and then measure the resulting system using a different measurement apparatus. Such a setup amounts to the introduction of noise to the measurement process, yet has the advantage of preserving the measurement statistics. Preprocessing by a quantum channel leads to the partial order "cleaner than" on quantum probability measures. Other meaningful partial orders on quantum probability measures exist, and we shall investigate that of cleanness as well as that of absolute continuity. Lastly, we investigate partial orders on vectors corresponding to quantum states; such partial orders, namely majorization and trumping, have been linked to entanglement theory. We characterize trumping first by means of yet another partial order, power majorization, which gives rise to a family of examples. We then characterize trumping through the complete monotonicity of certain Dirichlet polynomials corresponding to the states in question. This not only generalizes a recent characterization of trumping, but the use of such mathematical objects simpli es the derivation of the result. / The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Quantum Coherence (QC) has a fundamental role in Quantum Mechanics (QM). It has been studied since the emergence of QM. However, this quantum feature is easily destroyed when a physical system interacts with the environment. Also, recently the quantum coherence has been highlighted because of the possibility of using its as a resource in the Quantum Information Science (QIS). In this work we study the QC flow of a qubit (two-level system) interacting with the environment modeled by quantum channels of noise that are very common in QIS. These channels represent some physical systems and are widely used for error correction studies. We calculate the QC by the l1-norm, doing this for the different channels seeking to relate it to the entanglement, which is also another key topic in QM. We note that in the amplitude damping channel the total QC is equal to the sum of the local and non-local parts and that the non-local part is equivalent to entanglement. For the phase damping channel, entanglement does not cover all non-local QC. Here there is a gap between them that may depend on the time and on the initial state. Besides, for the bit, phase, and bit phase flip channels the possibility and the conditions for invariance of QC are considered. Also, we notice that for the depolarizing channel we can use the qubit as a catalyst for the creation of non-local QC and entanglement. We, as well, observed that even initial states incoherent can lead to transient quantum coherence between system and environment. We also showed that the emergence of entanglement does not necessarily imply the destruction of QC. Furthermore, we investigated whether QC is lost or changed into other types of correlations and besides which initial conditions allow making quantum coherence robust to decoherence. / A Coerência Quântica (CQ) tem aspecto fundamental na Mecânica Quântica (MQ), ela é estudada desde o surgimento da MQ todavia, a CQ é uma característica que é facilmente destruída quando um sistema físico interage com o meio ambiente. Além disso, recentemente a coerência quântica tem tido destaque devido a possibilidade de sua utilização como um recurso na Ciência da Informação Quântica (CIQ). Nesse trabalho estudamos o fluxo de CQ de um qubit (sistema de dois níveis) interagindo com o ambiente modelado por canais quânticos de ruído que são muito comuns em CIQ. Esses canais representam alguns sistemas físicos e são amplamente utilizados para o estudo de correção de erros, por exemplo. Calculamos a CQ baseados na norma-l1 para os diferentes canais buscando relacioná-la com o emaranhamento, que também é outro tópico fundamental em MQ. Notamos que para o canal amplitude damping a CQ total é igual a soma das partes local e não-local e que a parte não-local equivale ao emaranhamento. Para o canal phase damping o emaranhamento não abrange toda a CQ não-local, existindo uma lacuna entre eles que pode depender do tempo e do estado inicial. Além disso, para os canais bit, phase e bit phase flip são consideradas a possibilidade e condições para invariância da CQ. Ainda notamos que para o canal depolarizing podemos usar o qubit como um catalisador para a criação de CQ e de emaranhamento. Observamos ainda que mesmo estados iniciais incoerentes podem levar à criação de coerência quântica transitória entre sistema e ambiente. Vimos também que o surgimento do emaranhamento não implica necessariamente na diminuição da CQ do qubit. Investigamos ainda se a CQ é perdida ou transformada em outros tipos de correlações e também quais condições iniciais possibilitam tornar a coerência quântica mais robusta.

In this thesis we study the information transmission through Gaussian quantum channels. Gaussian quantum channels model physical communication links, such as free space communication or optical fibers and therefore, may be considered as the most relevant quantum channels. One of the central characteristics of any communication channel is its capacity. In this work we are interested in the classical capacity, which is the maximal number of bits that can be reliably transmitted per channel use. An important lower bound on the classical capacity is given by the Gaussian capacity, which is the maximal transmission rate with the restriction that only Gaussian encodings are allowed: input messages are encoded in so-called Gaussian states for which the mean field amplitudes are Gaussian distributed.<p><p>We focus in this work mainly on the Gaussian capacity for the following reasons. First, Gaussian encodings are easily accessible experimentally. Second, the difficulty of studying the classical capacity, which arises due to an optimization problem in an infinite dimensional Hilbert space, is greatly reduced when considering only Gaussian input encodings. Third, the Gaussian capacity is conjectured to coincide with the classical capacity, even though this longstanding conjecture is unsolved until today.<p><p>We start with the investigation of the capacities of the single-mode Gaussian channel. We show that the most general case can be reduced to a simple, fiducial Gaussian channel which depends only on three parameters: its transmissivity (or gain), the added noise variance and the squeezing of the noise. Above a certain input energy threshold, the optimal input variances are given by a quantum water-filling solution, which implies that the optimal modulated output state is a thermal state. This is a quantum extension (or generalization) of the well-known classical water-filling solution for parallel Gaussian channels. Below the energy threshold the solution is given by a transcendental equation and only the less noisy quadrature is modulated. We characterize in detail the dependence of the Gaussian capacity on its channel parameters. In particular, we show that the Gaussian capacity is a non-monotonous function of the noise squeezing and analytically specify the regions where it exhibits one maximum, a maximum and a minimum, a saddle point or no extrema. <p><p>Then, we investigate the case of n-mode channels with noise correlations (i.e. memory), where we focus in particular on the classical additive noise channel. We consider memory models for which the noise correlations can be unraveled by a passive symplectic transformation. Therefore, we can simplify the problem to the study of the Gaussian capacity in an uncorrelated basis, which corresponds to the Gaussian capacity of n single-mode channels with a common input energy constraint. Above an input energy threshold the solutions is given by a global quantum water-filling solution, which implies that all modulated single-mode output states are thermal states with the same temperature. Below the threshold the channels are divided into three sets: i) those that are excluded from information transmission, ii) those for which only the less noisy quadrature is modulated, and iii) those for which the quantum water-filling solution is satisfied. As an example we consider a Gauss-Markov correlated noise, which in the uncorrelated basis corresponds to a collection of single-mode classical additive noise channels. When rotating the collection of optimal single-mode input states back to the original, correlated basis the optimal multi-mode input state becomes a highly entangled state. We then compare the performance of the optimal input state with a simple coherent state encoding and conclude that one gains up to 10% by using the optimal encoding.<p><p>Since the preparation of the optimal input state may be very challenging we consider sub-optimal Gaussian-matrix product states (GMPS) as input states as well. GMPS have a known experimental setup and, though being heavily entangled, can be generated sequentially. We demonstrate that for the Markovian correlated noise as well as for a non-Markovian noise model in a wide range of channel parameters, a nearest-neighbor correlated GMPS achieves more than 99.9% of the Gaussian capacity. At last, we introduce a new noise model for which the GMPS is the exact optimal input state. Since GMPS are known to be ground states of quadratic Hamiltonians this suggests a starting point to develop links between optimization problems of quantum communication and many body physics. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-01T21:11:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 REX ANTONIO DA COSTA MEDEIROS - TESE PPGEE 2008..pdf: 1089371 bytes, checksum: ea0c95501b938e0d466779a06faaa4f6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T21:11:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 REX ANTONIO DA COSTA MEDEIROS - TESE PPGEE 2008..pdf: 1089371 bytes, checksum: ea0c95501b938e0d466779a06faaa4f6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-09 / Nesta tese, a capacidade erro-zero de canais discretos sem memória é generalizada para canais quânticos. Uma nova capacidade para a transmissão de informação clássica através de canais quânticos é proposta. A capacidade erro-zero de canais quânticos (CEZQ) é definida como sendo a máxima quantidade de informação por uso do canal que pode ser enviada através de um canal quântico ruidoso, considerando uma probabilidade de erro igual a zero. O protocolo de comunicação restringe palavras-código a produtos tensoriais de estados quânticos de entrada, enquanto que medições coletivas entre várias saídas do canal são permitidas. Portanto, o protocolo empregado é similar ao protocolo de Holevo-Schumacher-Westmoreland. O problema de encontrar a CEZQ é reformulado usando elementos da teoria de grafos. Esta definição equivalente é usada para demonstrar propriedades de famílias de estados quânticos e medições que atingem a CEZQ. É mostrado que a capacidade de um canal quântico num espaço de Hilbert de dimensão d pode sempre ser alcançada usando famílias compostas de, no máximo,d estados puros. Com relação às medições, demonstra-se que medições coletivas de von Neumann são necessárias e suficientes para alcançar a capacidade. É discutido se a CEZQ é uma generalização não trivial da capacidade erro-zero clássica. O termo não trivial refere-se a existência de canais quânticos para os quais a CEZQ só pode ser alcançada através de famílias de estados quânticos não-ortogonais e usando códigos de comprimento maior ou igual a dois. É investigada a CEZQ de alguns canais quânticos. É mostrado que o problema de calcular a CEZQ de canais clássicos-quânticos é puramente clássico. Em particular, é exibido um canal quântico para o qual conjectura-se que a CEZQ só pode ser alcançada usando uma família de estados quânticos não-ortogonais. Se a conjectura é verdadeira, é possível calcular o valor exato da capacidade e construir um código de bloco quântico que alcança a capacidade. Finalmente, é demonstrado que a CEZQ é limitada superiormente pela capacidade de Holevo-Schumacher-Westmoreland.