2021/05/25 by Nikolay V. Vitanov
Physics and Astronomy · #Adiabatic process #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Atomic physics #Computational physics #Electric field #Energy (signal processing) #Excitation #Magnetic field #Physics #Population #Pulse (music) #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Rabi cycle #Sensitivity (control systems) #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies #Stark effect #Voltage #Zeeman effect #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.103.063104
published as Phys. Rev. A 103, 063104 (2021) · 10 pages, 6 figures
arxiv created 2021/05/25 · openalex publication_date 2021/06/10 · arxiv updated 2021/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A method for measuring small energy level shifts in a qubit by coherent amplification of their effect is proposed. It is based on the repeated application of the same interaction pulse in two manners: with the same phase of each subsequent pulse, and with an alternating phase shift of \ensuremathπ (i.e., a minus sign) from pulse to pulse. Two specific types of pulses are considered: a resonant \ensuremathπ pulse and an adiabatic chirped pulse, both of which produce population inversion with high fidelity. In the presence of a weak ambient external electric or magnetic field, the ensuing Stark or Zeeman shift leads to an energy level shift and hence a static detuning. In both the resonant and adiabatic approaches, a small level shift does not alter the transition probability very much; however, it can significantly change the dynamical phases in the propagator. The repeated application of the same pulse greatly amplifies the changes in the dynamical phases and maps them onto the populations. Hence the effect of the level shift can be measured with good accuracy. It is found that sequences of pulses with alternating phases deliver much greater error amplification and much steeper excitation profiles around resonance, thereby providing much higher sensitivity to small energy level shifts. Explicit analytic estimates of the sensitivity are derived using the well-known noncrossing Rosen-Zener and Rabi models and the level-crossing Demkov-Kunike model. This recipe provides a simple tool for rapid and accurate sensing of weak electric and magnetic fields by using the same pulse generating an inversion quantum gate, without sophisticated tomography or entangling operations.