Adiabatic state preparation of interacting two-level systems

R. T. Brierley, C. Creatore, P. B. Littlewood, P. R. Eastham

Published 2012-02-29, updated 2012-08-20Version 2

We consider performing adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) using frequency-swept driving pulses to excite a collection of interacting two-level systems. Such a model arises in a wide range of many-body quantum systems, such as cavity QED or quantum dots, where a nonlinear component couples to light. We analyze the one-dimensional case using the Jordan-Wigner transformation, as well as the mean field limit where the system is described by a Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Hamiltonian. These limits provide complementary insights into the behavior of many-body systems under ARP, suggesting our results are generally applicable. We demonstrate that ARP can be used for state preparation in the presence of interactions, and identify the dependence of the required pulse shapes on the interaction strength. In general interactions increase the pulse bandwidth required for successful state transfer, introducing new restrictions on the pulse forms required.