Time-Optimal Frictionless Atom Cooling in Harmonic Traps

TL;DR

This paper formulates frictionless atom cooling in harmonic traps as a time-optimal control problem, deriving optimal trajectories with applications in quantum thermodynamics and Bose-Einstein condensate manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel control-theoretic approach to achieve minimal-time atom cooling, linking quantum thermodynamics and practical quantum system manipulations.

Findings

Minimum transition time between thermal states determined

Emergence of the third law of thermodynamics from quantum principles

Potential for fast Bose-Einstein condensate expansion

Abstract

Frictionless atom cooling in harmonic traps is formulated as a time-optimal control problem and a synthesis of optimal controlled trajectories is obtained. This work has already been used to determine the minimum time for transition between two thermal states and to show the emergence of the third law of classical thermodynamics from quantum thermodynamics. It can also find application in the fast adiabatic-like expansion of Bose-Einstein condensates, with possible applications in atom interferometry. This paper is based on our recently published article in SIAM J. Control Optim.