Monday, Dec. 12th, 2011 - 11.00 am

Thomas Schulte-Herbrüggen,
Technical University of Munich (TUM), Garching, Germany

Elucidating quantum optimal control in terms of symmetry principles has
triggered us in a number of recent advances to be elucidated in survey:
(i) it leads to a new and handy controllability criterion,
(ii) it guides the design of universal quantum hardware,
(iii) it governs which quantum system can simulate another one given,
(iv) with little modification it specifies the limit between time-optimal control
and relaxation-optimised control of open systems, and
(v) it provides a pattern that may help to understand new coherent pathways
in noise-assisted energy transfer in light-harvesting biomolecules.

How principles turn into practice is illustrated in a plethora of examples
showing practical applications in solid-state devices and circuit-qed.
The algorithmic tools are presented in a unified programming framework.