Michael Goerz

Title: Numerical Methods of Optimal Quantum Control

Abstract: At the heart of the next-level quantum technology like quantum computing lies the problem of actively controlling the dynamics of a quantum system. I will give an overview of the numerical methods of open-loop quantum control theory. These methods are based on simulating the dynamics of the system and then iteratively minimizing the value of an optimization functional, e.g., a gate error. I will discuss the efficient simulation of quantum dynamics and describe the widely used gradient ascent (GRAPE) and Krotov’s methods for unconstrained quantum control. Using the QuantumControl.jl software package, I will show an example of using semi-automatic differentiation to optimize gate entanglement. Finally, I will give an outlook on the wider ecosystem of control methods, the possibility to adapt to experimental constraints, and the general design of quantum control software.

Bio: Michael Goerz is a senior post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Army Research Lab in Adelphi, MD. He received his PhD on “Optimizing Robust Quantum Gates in Open Quantum Systems” in the group of Christiane Koch in Kassel, Germany. Before joining the Army Research Lab, he was a postdoc in the group of Hideo Mabuchi at Stanford. His research focuses on methods of quantum optimal control in a wide range of applications, currently for the design of pulse schemes for quantum metrology with trapped atoms. He is the lead developer of the QuantumControl Julia package.

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