Quantum control papers on arXiv, selected and classified automatically by QOC. https://llorebaga.github.io/QOC/topics/robust-optimal-control/ 2026-10-15T00:00:00Z QOC https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21596 2026-10-15T00:00:00Z 2026-10-15T00:00:00Z Llorenç Balada Gaggioli

Robust quantum control usually assumes one of two extremes: the error is of a known form and only its strength is unknown, or nothing at all is known about it. In practice one often sits in between. The size of a static error is unknown, but its class is known, for example, it only shifts energy levels, or it acts on each subsystem separately. We ask how fast a control can cancel, to first order, every error in such a class. A time-independent Hamiltonian can do this if and only if all errors in the class have zero diagonal in a common basis. In that case an equally spaced energy ladder in this basis does it after one period. A lower bound that holds for any time-dependent control with bounded drive power shows that this simple constant control is optimal for several natural classes, including unknown level shifts and unknown local errors on two subsystems. Completely unknown errors need a time-dependent control, and there, knowing the error class shortens the minimum time by a factor $\sqrt{d^2+1}$. So partial knowledge of the error changes not only how long an optimal robust control takes, but also its form.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.22728 2026-09-19T00:00:00Z 2026-09-19T00:00:00Z Masamitsu Bando

Residual-error preservation (REP) provides a sufficient rule for constructing concatenated composite pulses that compensate multiple systematic errors. We show that local REP is not necessary: deviations from REP can cancel across the full sequence. Using first-order error generators, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for concatenation to retain the robustness of an outer sequence. A simple sufficient condition is that all inner pulses rescale the corresponding elementary error generators by a common real factor, not necessarily unity. We illustrate this principle using pulse-length and off-resonance errors, two systematic error models commonly considered in magnetic resonance. Short CORPSE and SCROFULOUS each compensate one error without preserving the other locally. Combining these inner pulses with suitable equal-rotation-angle outer sequences yields simultaneous first-order compensation of both errors, extending concatenated composite-pulse design beyond local REP.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15477 2026-09-14T00:00:00Z 2026-09-14T00:00:00Z Shao-Wei XuZhe-Yuan ZhangYi-Tong ShiYe-Hong ChenYan Xia

Cat-state qubits, a prominent class of bosonic encodings, offer a promising pathway toward hardware-efficient fault-tolerant quantum computing. In this manuscript, we propose an optimally robust control protocol for the cat-state qubits which are stabilized by engineering two-photon dissipation. By deriving an effective two-level description in the cat-state subspace and applying shortcut-to-adiabaticity via inverse engineering, we design a robust protocol to achieve fast and high-fidelity state transfer in the cat-state qubit. We analyze the sensitivity to systematic control errors and identify an optimal robustness condition that strongly suppresses errors induced by imperfections in the driving fields. Furthermore, we show that dissipative confinement efficiently suppresses leakage out of the cat-state subspace caused by the pure dephasing, highlighting an intrinsic advantage of dissipative-cat qubits. This work establishes a robust and leakage-suppressing framework for high-fidelity bosonic qubit control, offering a promising route toward scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.27426 2026-08-27T00:00:00Z 2026-08-27T00:00:00Z Elie BatailleGyohei NomuraManuel Endres

Rydberg entangling gates driven by a two-photon transition in alkali atoms suffer from an adverse scaling of light-shift-induced errors. Robustness to such detuning errors is known to be impossible to achieve in the design of conventional Rydberg gate protocols, where only one of the qubit states is coupled to the Rydberg state. Here, we show that in a more general framework, in which both qubit states take part in the gate, full or partial robustness to these errors can be realized. We present two gate constructions, which either cancel the errors outright or convert them into single-qubit errors that can be corrected locally. We map the regimes -- in terms of light-shift strength, intensity inhomogeneity, and Rydberg decay rate -- in which these protocols outperform the widely used time-optimal Rydberg gate, and find that they already include the conditions of state-of-the-art experiments. Finally, we show the existence of a Rydberg `fly-by' entangling gate, an important primitive for an emerging class of neutral-atom quantum computing architectures.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.17026 2026-08-17T00:00:00Z 2026-08-17T00:00:00Z Saipriya SatyajitZechuan YinJner Tzern OonKatrijn EveraertSmriti BhaleraoJohn W. BlanchardChristopher JarzynskiRonald L. Walsworth

Periodic driving underlies many forms of quantum control, including spin-based quantum sensing. However, in an ensemble sensor, one waveform must act on spins with different detunings, drive amplitudes, hyperfine environments, and local fields. Existing robust-control approaches to such disorder are usually framed in terms of coherence, effective Hamiltonians, filter functions, or refocusing. Here we identify a complementary geometric requirement for collective ensemble Floquet control: disorder realizations must share a common Floquet eigenframe. When this condition is met, initialization, protection, signal coupling, and readout are defined in one dressed basis, so the ensemble responds as a collective Floquet sensor rather than as an average over inequivalent driven members. We make this condition measurable with an eigenvector-based synchronization order parameter and a complementary fragmentation metric that quantify the alignment and spread of Floquet quantization axes across the ensemble. As one realization of this framework, we use a continuous counterdiabatic Floquet drive to derive synchronization criteria and predict resonance-governed breakdown at the first two low-order commensurabilities between the engineered Floquet gap and the drive modulation, with detuning and amplitude disorder producing distinct breakdown channels. Experiments on a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) ensemble in diamond verify the synchronized regime through long-lived collective oscillations, a two-dimensional disorder-robustness map, and breakdown resonances that shift with the modulation rate. Finally, we demonstrate a harmonic-free continuous-drive AC magnetometry protocol whose collective single-tone response is enabled by the synchronized Floquet eigenframe. These results establish Floquet eigenframe synchronization as a measurable condition for disorder-resilient collective control and quantum sensing.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.03698 2026-08-04T00:00:00Z 2026-08-04T00:00:00Z Sean Patrick O'NeilFrank C. LangbeinCarrie A. WeidnerEdmond JonckheereS. G. Schirmer

We develop a structure-specific fidelity-threshold robustness margin for finite-dimensional closed quantum systems under piecewise-constant coherent control. A scalar physical parameter may perturb the drift, a control Hamiltonian, or another declared Hamiltonian component across the control horizon. A differential sensitivity bound for trace-amplitude gate fidelity yields a threshold-dependent Lipschitz constant on the connected safe parameter component and hence a certified finite perturbation radius. Recentering this certificate produces an iterative one-dimensional method that takes certified safe steps toward the first fidelity-threshold boundary in either parameter direction. A three-qubit gate-control example shows that these finite margins vary by up to a factor of three across controllers of comparable nominal fidelity and contain structure-dependent information not captured by nominal differential sensitivity alone.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.27527 2026-07-29T00:00:00Z 2026-07-29T00:00:00Z Wayne M. WitzelMatthew D. GraceDwight R. Luhman

Nuclear spin qubits in silicon are well-isolated from their environment. Consequently, they have very long lifetimes and low sensitivity to noise, but this also suggests that control and measurement is challenging. We introduce electron pair interferometry (EPI), a protocol to overcome this challenge and maintain robustness to noise. EPI is implemented using an array of quantum dots with isoelectronic nuclear spin qubits located in the dots. A pair of electrons are initialized into a singlet ground state, split apart, and shuttled to the dots containing nuclear spin qubits. We show it is possible to coherently transfer the parity of the nuclei onto the measurable state of singlet/triplet-encoded electrons. Global nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to change bases and implement dynamical decoupling (DD). Combined with selective hyperfine-induced $Z_π$ rotations, our gate set is complete for universal quantum computation, tailored to Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) quantum error correction, and robust to noise. We discuss very low sensitivity to charge noise and study the sensitivity to both DC and AC magnetic field inhomogeneity which depends strongly on their relative strengths.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.24507 2026-06-23T00:00:00Z 2026-06-23T00:00:00Z Tobias KiermeyerThomas HeydenreichLéo Van DammeSebastian HohenemserFlorian MarquardtSteffen J. Glaser

Real-time adaptive control of quantum systems requires rapid generation of robust, high-fidelity pulses across a continuous range of operating conditions. Standard optimization algorithms such as gradient-ascent pulse engineering (GRAPE) solve each instance independently, discarding information between runs and requiring costly reinitialization when parameters change. We present an approach to robust optimal quantum control based on model-based reinforcement learning, in which a single neural network -- embedding the Hamiltonian directly into the training pipeline -- generates robust gates across an entire family of gate configurations, without pre-computed training data. Demonstrated on a single-spin (two-level) system, the trained networks produce pulses for arbitrary rotation angles over a range of pulse durations, detunings, and field inhomogeneities in milliseconds, at fidelities comparable to multi-seed GRAPE. The framework is inherently adaptable: any parameter entering the Hamiltonian can serve as a network input, extending the approach to different systems and control settings. Beyond speed, the network reveals structure in the control landscape: it discovers the same structured phase profiles that appear in GRAPE solutions -- made identifiable through fidelity-invariant symmetry transformations -- but more consistently than independent optimization. This consistency enables smooth interpolation across the entire trained parameter space.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.19786 2026-06-18T00:00:00Z 2026-08-11T00:00:00Z Jaesung LimJihwan KimDong-Gil ImKyungdeuk ParkDongkyu KimYonggi JoYong Sup Ihn

Topological waveguide arrays support robust mode propagation in the presence of fabrication imperfections, providing a significant advantage for on-chip quantum information processing. However, this robustness does not fully extend to nonlinear biphoton generation. Structural disorder can enhance the excitation of non-topological biphoton modes during nonlinear interactions, which degrades the quantum properties of the generated state. To overcome this limitation, we propose an adiabatic passage that connects an isolated site to a topological defect array. By initiating the nonlinear process in a strongly isolated regime, nonlinear coupling to unwanted modes is effectively suppressed, thereby preserving the Schmidt number of the generated state. The subsequent adiabatic connection facilitates the high fidelity transfer of the generated biphoton into the topological biphoton mode. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that, unlike conventional topological structures, the adiabatic scheme maintains both high biphoton fidelity and a unit Schmidt number in the presence of waveguide gap disorder. Furthermore, we show that this robustness extends to path entangled NOON states, achieving a near-unity quantum interference visibility. Our approach provides a practical design strategy for disorder-tolerant integrated quantum photonic devices.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.15672 2026-06-14T00:00:00Z 2026-06-14T00:00:00Z Evangelos PiliourasHisham AmerSusan M. ClarkMelissa C. RevelleEdward C. TortoriciMatthew N. H. ChowBrandon RuzicDaniel S. LobserBrian K. McFarlandChristopher G. YaleEdwin BarnesSophia E. Economou

Highly-localized light-matter interactions are necessary for scaling trapped-ion architectures. In hyperfine qubits, counterpropagating beams generate entangling gates by coupling with motion, but this effect is undesirable during single-qubit operations. For that reason, single-qubit gates are traditionally implemented with copropagating beams, and the coexistence of two beam geometries adds hardware and computational overhead. In an effort towards collective performance improvement with minimal overhead, we design and implement pulse-amplitude and dephasing robust dynamically corrected gates using Space Curve Quantum Control (SCQC) and compare them against the constant-amplitude gate implementation. We perform gate set tomography on a four-qubit trapped-ion register, and we discover more than 50% error reduction when robust pulses are used. We find that counterpropagating robust gates often outperform their copropagating counterparts and reach error rates as low as $(3.59 \pm 1.25)\cdot 10^{-3}$, using diamond distance as a metric. This value establishes a laser-driven-gate error reference and is merely an order of magnitude higher than the best reported $\textit{microwave}$ gate on a $\textit{single}$ ion. Additional experiments reveal that robust pulses can effectively suppress non-Markovian errors that grow during runtime. Our work challenges the widely accepted belief that copropagating gates should be preferred for their weak motional coupling and invites the adoption of high-performance robust pulses that suppress multiple noise sources of the trapped-ion error budget.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.28511 2026-05-27T00:00:00Z 2026-05-27T00:00:00Z Li-Bao FanYu GuoShan MaChuan-Cun Shu

We present a theoretical investigation of coherent control over the orientation of an individual molecule strongly coupled with a cavity using chirped-pulse driving. Specifically, we explore the dynamics of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) molecules under the influence of two chirped pulses with different spectral phases. We compare two pulse configurations: one with equal chirp rates ($β_{+} = β_{-}$) and another with unequal chirp rates ($β_{+} \neq β_{-}$). Numerical simulations reveal that chirped pulses enable precise control of the molecular orientation, achieving a maximum orientation degree of 0.5773. By analyzing the distribution of molecular polariton states, we show that chirped pulses can activate multiphoton processes, leading to deviations from the predictions of first-order Magnus expansion methods. Additionally, we demonstrate the robustness of the maximum orientation with respect to chirp amplitude and detuning, providing insights into the role of pulse parameters in optimizing control. This work introduces a new strategy for controlling molecular orientation in cavity-based systems and offers valuable perspectives for future experimental applications.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.26925 2026-05-26T00:00:00Z 2026-05-26T00:00:00Z Haftu W. FentawSteve CampbellSimon Caton

We present a Multi-task Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) Reinforcement Learning framework designed for open-system quantum control across diverse Hamiltonians, which learns optimal pulse sequences while simultaneously discovering problem-specific evolution time T and number of control pulse segments N. Experimental results across 51 Hamiltonian variations demonstrate that the multi-task SAC model is able to generate control pulses that can drive a system, under environment noise, from its initial state to its target state with high fidelities, establishing essential foundations for universal quantum control applicable to realistic noisy quantum devices. Through progressive expansion of the training Hamiltonian set, we investigate if a single multi-task model trained using a given number of sample Hamiltonians can successfully accomplish state-transfer tasks for Hamiltonians drawn from the same Hamiltonian space but not encountered during training. In addition, our Robustness Infidelity Measure (RIM) analysis reveals that SAC trained policies exhibit superior robustness to pulse amplitude perturbations and decoherence rate variations compared to GRAPE-optimized controls.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.26783 2026-05-26T00:00:00Z 2026-08-24T00:00:00Z Fumiya HanamuraSicheng BaoJie Lerk YooAlexia AuffèvesSteven Touzard

Inhomogeneous ensembles of two-level systems are central to both fundamental light-matter physics and quantum-network applications. Understanding and optimizing ensemble-based quantum memories and entanglement protocols requires a unified framework that describes how to store quantum states of light as collective matter excitations and retrieve them on demand. Here we develop such a framework, the waveguide model, by mapping the dark collective modes of the ensemble onto an effective waveguide with well-defined input-output relations, valid in both the weak-excitation regime and near population inversion. This model reveals that inhomogeneous coupling -- often regarded as a limitation -- is instead the physical origin of noisy-echo suppression by adiabatic pulses, a key ingredient for realizing noiseless quantum memories. For entanglement generation, the same mechanism exposes a previously unexplored shortcoming of robust control pulses and leads to a new composite-pulse protocol that overcomes it. These results establish the waveguide model as a practical bridge between fundamental collective physics and quantum-network protocol design, recasting inhomogeneous coupling from an obstacle into a control knob for collective emission.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.02791 2026-05-04T00:00:00Z 2026-05-04T00:00:00Z Alessandro ScagliottiThomas M. Surowiec

A number of important modern applications in optimal control can be formulated as open loop control problems in which the underlying dynamical systems are subject to random inputs. These so-called ensemble control problems require the corresponding optimal control to be deterministic, as it must be computed before the realization of uncertainty and the passage of time. Practical applications of ensemble control include quantum control and the training of Neural ODEs. However, the standard approach to ensemble control treats the uncertainty in the objective function via the expectation, which provides optimal controls that only work well on average while ignoring critical outlier phenomena. This study provides a comprehensive mathematical treatment of risk-averse ensemble control. Within this setting, we adopt a control-affine structure that ensures the lower semi-continuity needed for proving the existence of optimal solutions. The central analytical contribution of this paper is a rigorous characterization of the control-to-state mapping in which we establish weak-to-strong continuity, continuous Fréchet differentiability, and weak-to-strong continuity of the derivative operator. Furthermore, this regularity yields primal and dual first-order optimality conditions characterized by an adjoint state of bounded variation, and it fulfills the functional prerequisites required for the convergence of infinite dimensional optimization algorithms. We conclude by validating these theoretical developments through a numerical experiment in quantum control.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.21594 2026-04-23T00:00:00Z 2026-04-30T00:00:00Z Hristo G. TonchevNikolay V. Vitanov

Systematic control errors remain a primary obstacle to realizing high-fidelity single-qubit gates. We introduce composite pulse sequences that implement X and Hadamard gates while simultaneously compensating amplitude (Rabi-frequency), detuning (frequency), and duration errors. Our construction uses two complementary strategies: (i) derivative-based cancellation of error terms in the full unitary (not just the transition probability), formulated via the Cayley-Klein parametrization, and (ii) direct minimization of the average gate infidelity over prescribed error ranges. We derive symmetric five-pulse solutions with closed-form phases that cancel all first-order terms (including the mixed derivative), and numerically optimize longer sequences -- up to 15 pulses -- to achieve higher-order suppression. We also show that standard ``universal'' five-pulse sequences (U5a/U5b) emerge as simple phase-shifted instances of our symmetric solutions, yielding broad robustness to both detuning and amplitude errors. Finally, we construct variable-area sequences for $R_x(π/2)$, which, up to virtual Z rotations, benchmark the Hadamard gate. Across all families we observe the expected trade-off between sequence length and robustness window, with substantial boosts in fidelity over large error domains.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.19908 2026-04-21T00:00:00Z 2026-04-21T00:00:00Z K. L. WoodW. A. Terrano

We present a new class of control pulses designed to transfer co-located ensembles without relying on frequency selectivity, thereby allowing much faster state-transitions. A geometric approach allows us to construct sequences which are robust to changes in the background magnetic field along multiple axes, and errors in the pulse area. \red{These pulses are extremely fast, with robustness to pulse area shown at half the quantum speed limit.} We demonstrate these sequences on nuclear-dipole states, showing milliradian precision over several hours, 30-fold beyond the previous state of the art. This provides a path for extending the coherent integration time of ultra-long-lived nuclear-spin states to the fundamental limit set by their $>$10000 second lifetimes, as the limiting self-interactions of the nuclei are suppressed in the symmetric superposition. The state-preparation quality demonstrated here directly opens up 30-fold improvements in next generation tests of the standard model, especially tests of the symmetries of QCD and searches for dark matter; it is also crucial for the development of nuclear-spin based quantum memories and may be useful in other scenarios demanding extremely fast but robust transitions.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.17515 2026-04-19T00:00:00Z 2026-07-24T00:00:00Z Jesse Roberta Mingue NjikiNouhaila InnanAlberto MarchisioMuhammad KashifJean-Michel DricotMuhammad Shafique

Quantum Neural Networks (QNNs) represent a promising direction within Quantum Machine Learning (QML), yet their realization on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices remains constrained by decoherence, gate imperfections, crosstalk, and readout errors. This study provides a systematic evaluation of noise effects and mitigation strategies in hybrid quantum neural networks (HQNNs). Zero-Noise Extrapolation (ZNE), Digital Dynamical Decoupling (DDD), and Layerwise Richardson Extrapolation (LRE) are integrated into end-to-end QNN training pipelines developed with PennyLane, simulated under Qiskit Aer noise models, and integrated with the Mitiq framework, while Probabilistic Error Cancellation (PEC) is evaluated separately under depolarizing noise due to its computational cost. Experiments conducted on the Iris dataset with five representative noise channels show that the impact of noise and the effect of mitigation are strongly dependent on the noise model and its strength. The model maintains comparatively strong performance under phase-flip and phase-damping noise, while substantial degradation is observed under high depolarizing and amplitude-damping noise. Across the evaluated mitigation methods, the observed benefits remain limited and noise-dependent: ZNE, DDD, and LRE generally follow the same degradation trends as the unmitigated baseline, while PEC shows limited gains only in the low-noise depolarizing regime. These findings highlight the need for context-specific mitigation strategies to improve the robustness of QNNs in practical NISQ settings.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.13923 2026-04-15T00:00:00Z 2026-04-15T00:00:00Z Rahul GuptaFlorian MintertHimadri Shekhar Dhar

We present a Krylov space based theoretical framework for modeling inhomogeneous spin ensembles with arbitrary distributions of spin frequencies and couplings. The framework is then used to asymptotically large spin ensemble. In the single-excitation subspace, the Krylov construction allows for to derive exact expressions for the Lieb-Robinson velocity and quantum speed limit, and figure of merit such as Krylov complexity. Our work reveals a strong dependence of the speed of information flow on the statistical distribution of resonance frequencies in the spin ensemble with immediate implications for the design of components for quantum technologies, realized for example with nitrogen vacancy centers, nuclear spins or ultracold atoms.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.12361 2026-04-14T00:00:00Z 2026-04-21T00:00:00Z Tanveer Ahmad

We present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of ultrafast entanglement generation between two Rydberg-blockaded atoms, explicitly accounting for realistic laser noise. Using femtosecond Gaussian pulses as a baseline, we systematically evaluate Bell-state fidelity sensitivity to amplitude and phase noise across white, pink (1/f), and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck spectra using Monte Carlo ensemble simulations. Our results show that amplitude noise is well tolerated, with fidelities above 90% even at 30% noise levels, while phase noise is the primary limiting factor, causing fidelity to drop rapidly beyond about 1% noise amplitude. The spectral structure of the noise is also important: pink noise consistently causes less fidelity loss than white noise of the same amplitude. By applying quantum optimal control theory (QOCT) with the D-MORPH algorithm under multiple equality constraints, we obtain a double-pulse structure with a spectral notch that achieves approximately 99% fidelity in the noise-free case and maintains high fidelity under moderate amplitude noise. A breakdown threshold near 1% amplitude noise is identified, beyond which even optimized pulses cannot sustain coherent control. These results offer practical benchmarks for the development of ultrafast neutral-atom quantum processors operating in the femtosecond regime.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04789 2026-04-06T00:00:00Z 2026-04-06T00:00:00Z Mayur JhamnaniVenkata SubbaRao RedrouthuJosé P. CarvalhoEthan FeldmanAnders Bodholt NielsenPhani KumarNiels Chr. NielsenP. K. MadhuAsif Equbal

PulsePol is an elegantly designed pulse-sequence-based quantum control scheme that enables polarization transfer between electron and nuclear spins, for example, in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. However, previous analyses of PulsePol assumed very strong, near-ideal, instantaneous microwave pulses, which is rarely achievable at higher magnetic fields. We revisit the PulsePol scheme under finite-pulse constraints and show that its performance significantly degrades due to finite-pulse effects. Using bimodal Floquet theory, we identify the symmetry-breaking mechanism responsible for this deterioration in fidelity. By phase adjustment, we reestablish the proper symmetry of the interaction-frame spin Hamiltonian, leading to a sequence called Q-PulsePol, where "Q" reflects the restored quadrature symmetry. Our results demonstrate robustness to finite-pulse effects and improved polarization transfer efficiency, establishing Q-PulsePol as a practical and reliable scheme for bulk hyperpolarization of nuclear spins in solids using a single-mode (zero-quantum or double-quantum) transfer. This work bridges idealized quantum control with realistic pulse engineering, establishing design rules for spin-based quantum control protocols.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.27894 2026-03-29T00:00:00Z 2026-03-29T00:00:00Z Francesca AlbertiniDomenico D'Alessandro

In this paper, we demonstrate an approach to quantum robust control based on the tools of geometric optimal control. The central objects of interest are the sensitivity functions defined as the coefficients in the Taylor expansion of the trajectory with respect to the (unknown, small) parameters which describe the deviation of the actual model from nominal one. In terms of these quantities, we formalize an optimal control problem where one searches for the optimal nominal trajectory which minimizes the size of the sensitivity while taking into account other aspects of the control design such as the energy of the control field. We consider in detail the case of a single qubit with a dephasing Hamiltonian term, and the optimal control problem of obtaining a state transfer by minimizing the weighted sum of the energy of the controlling field and the first order sensitivity. At the limit of a very large weight on the sensitivity, we obtain the optimal control which zeros the sensitivity and minimizes the control field energy. This problem has a rich mathematical structure which enables its solution in terms of elliptic integrals. For this problem, we obtain an explicit solution which is particularly simple and also smooth, avoiding discontinuities which are present in other approaches. We extend the results to the robust control of two quantum bits minimizing cross-talk contamination, as we show that such a problem decouples in two independent one qubit problems.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24345 2026-03-25T00:00:00Z 2026-03-25T00:00:00Z Yang HeZigui ZhangZibo Miao

The performance of quantum processors in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era is severely constrained by environmental noise and other uncertainties. While the recently proposed quantum control robustness landscape (QCRL) offers a powerful framework for generating robust control pulses for parametric gate families, its application has been practically restricted to quasi-static noise. To address the spectrally complex, time-varying noise prevalent in reality, we propose filter function-enhanced QCRL (FF-QCRL), which integrates filter function formalism into the QCRL framework. The resulting FF-QCRL algorithm minimizes a generalized robustness metric that faithfully encodes the impact of stochastic processes, enabling robust pulse-family generation for parametric gates under realistic time-varying noise. Numerical validation in a representative single-qubit setting confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.21631 2026-03-23T00:00:00Z 2026-03-23T00:00:00Z Yiming YuYexiong ZengYe-Hong ChenFranco NoriYan Xia

The potential of quantum computing is fundamentally constrained by the inherent susceptibility of qubits to noise and crosstalk, particularly during multi-qubit gate operations. Existing strategies, such as hardware isolation and dynamical decoupling, face limitations in scalability, experimental feasibility, and robustness against complex noise sources. In this manuscript, we propose a physics-guided neural control (PGNC) framework to generate robust control pulses for superconducting transmon qubit systems, specifically targeting crosstalk mitigation. By combining a hardware aware parameterization with a Hamiltonian-informed objective that accounts for condition-dependent crosstalk distortions, PGNC steers the search toward smooth and physically realizable pulses while efficiently exploring high dimensional control landscapes. Numerical simulations for the CZ gate demonstrate superior fidelity and pulse smoothness compared to a Krotov baseline under matched constraints. Taken together, the results show consistent and practically meaningful improvements in both nominal and perturbed conditions, with pronounced gains in worst-case fidelity, supporting PGNC as a viable route to robust control on near-term transmon devices.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.15758 2026-03-16T00:00:00Z 2026-03-16T00:00:00Z Andy J. GoldschmidtEmilio Peláez CisnerosRyan SitlerKevin S. OlssonKaitlin N. SmithGregory Quiroz

We introduce crosstalk-robust gate sets, which are obtained using a novel, scalable optimal control problem exploiting locality. Through the suppression of pairwise quantum crosstalk, the gate sets enable robustness that extends to multi-qubit circuits. The IBM Quantum Platform devices provide a testbed for our gate sets, where we study their efficacy via error suppression protocols and randomized parallel single-qubit circuits of up to eight qubits. Furthermore, we provide the first known assessment of the impact of complete optimal control gate sets on quantum algorithms. Using a Hamiltonian simulation of a four-qubit transverse field Ising model, we show that noise-informed gates enhance median algorithmic performance by a factor of four over baseline Gaussian gates using the same calibration procedures. Lastly, we provide numerical evidence that optimized gate sets enable larger qubit-qubit coupling strengths that can cut two-qubit gate times in half. This result confirms that hardware-software co-design using quantum optimal control can create new opportunities for quantum computing architectures.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.08522 2026-03-09T00:00:00Z 2026-03-09T00:00:00Z Jonathan BerkheimDavid J. Tannor

In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Composite Pulses (CPs) are widely used to correct for pulse imperfections, e.g., RF field inhomogeneity and resonance offset. Although robust pulse sequences have been developed throughout the years, the imperfection of the initial state has not been widely discussed in the literature as an additional systematic error. In previous work, we developed a classical canonical framework to perform stability analysis and used this as a measure of CP robustness. In that work, a single initial condition was allowed to evolve under various pulse imperfections. The current work extends this approach to $2D$ distributions of initial conditions on the Bloch Sphere; the objective is to minimize the area in order to preserve coherence, while maximizing population inversion of the entire distribution. As a case study, we investigate Levitt's $90(x)180(y)90(x)$ pulse sequence, when there is a spread in initial conditions. The canonical framework enables us to assess the robustness of Levitt's pulse sequence, and we find that it is maintained to a great extent even when considering a spread of initial conditions. Nevertheless, by conducting a numerical optimization, we have identified several variants of Levitt's pulse sequence that produce a larger coherent population inversion when there is a spread in initial conditions.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05820 2026-03-06T00:00:00Z 2026-03-06T00:00:00Z Guang-Hui ZhangYu-Wen LiXue-Ke SongLiu YeDong Wang

We propose to use counterdiabatic driving (CD) shortcut and the Floquet engineering to realize the robust and fast state transfer in the dissipation cavity magnon-polaritons non-Hermitian (NH) system. For the two-level NH cavity magnon-polaritons Hamiltonian, an accurate and fast population transfer is achieved from the microwave photon to the magnon by two coherent control techniques; counterdiabatic driving shortcut and non-Hermitian shortcuts (NHSs). Additionally, by using the CD technique, the population evolution speed of non-Hermitian systems is faster than that via the NHS technique in the broken-symmetric regime. Furthermore, we compare their performances in the presence of the coupling strength and systematic errors, the CD technique features a broad range of high efficiencies of the transition probability above 99.9%, showing that the CD technique is more robustness against these errors than the NHS technique. It is worth noting that this advantage becomes more significant as the gain rate of system parameters increases. The work provides a basis for achieving the robust coherent control in NH cavity electromagnonics.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.04773 2026-03-05T00:00:00Z 2026-03-05T00:00:00Z Yang-Yang YuGuang-Hui ZhangYan-Jie HeJun WuXue-Ke SongDong Wang

We propose a universal approach based on Hamiltonian inverse engineering to realize a set of parameterized two-qubit gates. This method possesses unique advantages to simultaneous control of transitions among four energy levels, providing a simpler and effective way to construct composite two-qubit gates with fewer operations than traditional methods. Applied to silicon double quantum dots (DQDs), one can realize a one-step fSim gate and a B gate with only one pulse switch. Of note, the method can be further integrated with various optimization theories to enhance gate performance. Based on quantum optimal control theory, we develop a high-fidelity fSim gate scheme with experimentally feasible pulse shapes, featuring an average gate time of 50 ns and a theoretical fidelity of 99.95% in the presence of decoherence and approximation error. By incorporating geometric quantum gate principles, we propose a combined geometric and dynamic fSim gate scheme. Numerical simulations demonstrate that this hybrid scheme exhibits stronger robustness against systematic errors compared to the purely dynamic approach. Our method is generalizable to arbitrary two-qubit physical systems, offering a feasible pathway for rapidly and robustly constructing composite two-qubit gates.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.03639 2026-03-04T00:00:00Z 2026-03-04T00:00:00Z Nguyen H. LeFlorian MintertEran Ginossar

Quantum crosstalk poses a major challenge to scaling up quantum computations as its strength is typically unknown and its effect accumulates exponentially as system size grows. Here, we show that many-body robust control can be utilized to suppress unwanted couplings during multi-qubit gate operations and state preparation. By combining tensor network simulations with the GRAPE algorithm, and leveraging an efficient random sampling over noise ensembles, our method overcomes the exponential scaling of the Hilbert space. We demonstrate its effectiveness for designing control solutions for high-fidelity implementations of parallel X gates and parallel CNOT on a chain of 50 qubits, and for realizing a 30-qubit GHZ state and the ground state of a 20-qubit Heisenberg model. In the presence of many-body quantum crosstalk due to parasitic interaction between neighboring qubits, robust control results in order-of magnitude improvement in fidelity for large system sizes. These findings pave the way for more reliable operations on near-term quantum processors.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13885 2026-02-14T00:00:00Z 2026-02-14T00:00:00Z Nader MostaanKapil GoswamiPeter SchmelcherRick Mukherjee

Rydberg blockade gates are the most experimentally mature entangling operations in neutral-atom quantum processors, combining fast gate times with simple control, but their performance degrades at larger interatomic separations and remains sensitive to motional and technical noise. Non-blockade gate schemes, such as dark-state and geometric protocols, offer complementary robustness but typically rely on complex and experimentally demanding control. Here we show that quantum optimal control enables non-blockade gate schemes to be implemented using the experimentally established pulse-shaping techniques developed for blockade-based gates. Focusing on the dark-state gate, we construct non-adiabatic implementations that preserve the intrinsic robustness of adiabatic dark-state protocols while achieving gate times comparable to time-optimal blockade gates using only smooth, experimentally feasible pulses. The resulting gates exhibit enhanced resilience to motional coupling, laser noise, and interaction inhomogeneity, particularly near and beyond the blockade radius. This work establishes a practical route to fast, robust two-qubit gates without increased experimental complexity.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10349 2026-02-10T00:00:00Z 2026-03-16T00:00:00Z Andrew T. KamenSamuel FineBikrant BhattacharyyaFrederic T. ChongAndy J. Goldschmidt

Control pulses that nominally optimize fidelity are sensitive to routine hardware drift and modeling errors. Robust quantum optimal control seeks error-insensitive control pulses that maintain fidelity thresholds and obey hardware constraints. Distinct numerical approximations to the first-order error susceptibility include adjoint end-point and toggling-frame approaches. Although theoretically equivalent, we provide a novel, systematic study demonstrating important numerical differences between these two approaches. We also introduce a critical discretization correction to the widely-used toggling-frame robustness estimator, measurably improving its estimate of first-order error susceptibility. We accomplish our study by positioning robustness as a first-class objective within direct, constrained optimal control. Our approach uniquely handles control and fidelity constraints while cleanly isolating robustness for dedicated optimization. In both single- and two-qubit examples under realistic constraints, our approach provides an analytic edge for obtaining precise, physics-informed robustness.