International Collaboration in Chemistry: Decoherence control via quantum dynamical decoupling - theory and experiment

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Dieter Suter
• Subject Area: Theoretical Chemistry: Electronic Structure, Dynamics, Simulation
• Term: from 2009 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 147191111

Quantum information promises to revolutionize various fields of science and technology. Its implementation is hampered mostly by decoherence, the loss of information due to unwanted and uncontrolled couplings of the quantum system with its environment. This project aims at reducing this effect by applying pulse sequences designed to refocus or decouple the interaction between the quantum system and its environment. This idea is closely related to the spin-echo effect, but here the investigators shall consider a much more general and robust approach, aimed at arbitrarily long coherence preservation. While preservation of quantum coherence is essential for “quantum memory” applications, where one wishes to store a quantum state, quantum computers require an additional advance: it should be possible to process quantum information reliably. This is the second area where the investigators plan to make a contribution, again by using dynamical decoupling in an NMR setting. To accomplish this goal, we will combine techniques such as quantum error correcting codes and decoherence-free subspaces with dynamical decoupling. This will enable us to combine information processing with its protection against decoherence.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Participating Person: Professor Daniel Lidar, Ph.D.