Controlling the stability of steady states in continuous variable quantum systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces two measurement-based feedback control schemes for the damped quantum harmonic oscillator to manipulate the stability of its fixed points, highlighting quantum-specific effects versus classical limits.

Contribution

It presents novel feedback schemes that can reverse damping effects and distinguishes quantum effects from classical noise influences in feedback control.

Findings

Both schemes can invert the stability of the fixed point.

Quantum effects differ from classical noise in feedback control.

Classical limit analysis reveals quantum-specific behaviors.

Abstract

For the paradigmatic case of the damped quantum harmonic oscillator we present two measurement-based feedback schemes to control the stability of its fixed point. The first scheme feeds back a Pyragas-like time-delayed reference signal and the second uses a predetermined instead of time-delayed reference signal. We show that both schemes can reverse the effect of the damping by turning the stable fixed point into an unstable one. Finally, by taking the classical limit $\hbar\rightarrow0$ we explicitly distinguish between inherent quantum effects and effects, which would be also present in a classical noisy feedback loop. In particular, we point out that the correct description of a classical particle conditioned on a noisy measurement record is given by a non-linear stochastic Fokker-Planck equation and not a Langevin equation, which has observable consequences on average as soon as feedback is considered.