Open Quantum Systems
Brief description:
Experimental capabilities have advanced to the point where individual quantum systems can now be measured and controlled with very high precision, enabling studies of fundamental physics, such as Bose-Einstein condensation of trapped atoms, and exciting technological applications, such as quantum computing and quantum communication. In general these quantum systems are very sensitive to the decoherence effects from residual interactions with their unobserved environment and from imperfect control. The theory of open quantum systems consists of a set of mathematical techniques and phenomenological models for describing and controlling these unwanted effects.
This course will provide an introduction to the theoretical description of open quantum systems and to the analysis of the physical properties of such systems. An important component of the course content will consist of analyzing the features of several important phenomenological models of the effective system dynamics under various system-environment interactions. The course will conclude with an introduction to quantum control methods.
Prerequisites:
AMATH 473/673 (Quantum Mechanics) or equivalent.
Intended audience:
This course will be a core course for graduate students in quantum information science (drawn from Applied Math, Physics, Computing Science and Combinatorics and Optimization), and will potentially be of interest to students in atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics, condensed matter, solid state physics, and nanotechnology.
Sources:
- R. Alicki and R. Lendi, Quantum Dynamical Semigroups and Applications, Springer (1987).
- D. Giulini et al, Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory, Springer (1996).
- M. Nielsen and I. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Cambridge University Press (2000).
- K. Kraus, States, Effects, and Operations, volume 190 of Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer (1983).
The course will be offered every two years and will be cross-listed with Physics.
First offering:
Winter term 2007