Applicability of coupling strength estimation for linear chains of restricted access
1. IntroductionThe accurate control of the Hamiltonian of the designed systems is always a prerequisite to carry out desired tasks, e.g., quantum computation,[1,2] quantum communication,[3] and quantum metrology.[4–7] The systems are usually microscopic structures which are delicately engineered to realize specific functions. To verify and benchmark these fabricated structures, the characterization of the system via Hamiltonian identification is desired.[8] Usually, the dynamics within the system are extremely complicated, and the probing access is often restricted. A delicately devised identification scheme is supposed to allow the sensible estimation of the unknown parameters, reconstructing the Hamiltonian indirectly based on partially available information, e.g., the a priori knowledge about the structure of the quantum network, the initial state, or an accessible subset of observables, et al.
Under the challenge of complicated dynamics and restricted addressing resources, various identification algorithms have been developed aiming at experimental realizations. In a many-body system, the dynamical decoupling technique, which simplifies the problem by decoupling each pair of qubits from the rest, allows for the Hamiltonian identification with arbitrary long-range couplings between qubits.[9] Besides, the dynamics can be altered by tuning the control pulse that is applied to the probe spin, improving the precision of the estimation scheme.[10,11] In a network of limited access, the identification scheme is intended to bridge the Hamiltonian parameters and the observables from accessible subsystems that are relatively easy to measure. The system realization theory is proposed for the temporal record of the observables of a local subsystem,[12,13] which has been experimentally demonstrated on a liquid nuclear magnetic resonance quantum information processor.[14] The Zeeman marker protocol shows that local field-induced spectral shifts can be used to estimate parameters in spin chains or networks.[15] Also, when the graph infection rule is satisfied, the similar parameter estimation is also available by utilizing the spectral information retrieved from a partially accessible spin.[16,17] Recently, a framework for inferring local Hamiltonians is proposed that recovers a short-ranged Hamiltonian on a large system by measuring the observables in a Gibbs state or a single eigenstate.[18]
In this work, we revisit the estimation algorithm proposed in Ref. [16] and focus on its applicability when the acquired initial data deviate from the actual values. The procedure, probing the global properties from a local site, is similar to the estimation of spring constants in classical-harmonic oscillator chains. By accessing only the end of the linear chain, the algorithm allows deducing all coupling strengths from the data of the associated spectral information. Nevertheless, the errors of the input data are inevitable and may significantly influence the reconstruction results. The simulations show that the spectral distribution is an important indicator of the applicability of the algorithm. Examining the spectral distribution, the increasing number of spectral components that approach zero are likely to fail the reconstruction. The applicability depends on both the properties of the individual system and conditions of measurement. Though there exist various Hamiltonian identification techniques (e.g., the ERA), the chain structure investigated here being simple allows for the direct presentation of the reconstruction procedure in our work to estimate the Hamiltonian parameter and elucidate possible sources of errors in the restricted system. Moreover, the simplicity of the original model and the explicit recursive formula allow us to track intuitively how the initial measurement errors propagate along the chain and to quantitatively assess the robustness of the reconstruction algorithm. The work is organized as follows. In Section 2, the recursive relations among spectral coefficients and coupling strengths from adjacent sites are derived. In Section 3, the robustness and the availability of the algorithm are discussed under different conditions when the input errors are introduced.
2. Theory of coupling strength estimationWe consider the state transfer within a system governed by the generic Schrödinger equation
. With the wave function represented in basis set {|i⟩}, |Ψ(t)⟩ = ∑i ci(t)|i⟩, the Hamiltonian is
with εi the on-site energy and Ji, j the coupling strength. Thus, the Schrödinger equation in the matrix form reads
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn1.gif)
where the symbol “∼” means the two sites are coupled. With amplitude
ci = 〈
i|Ψ(
t)⟩ represented spectrally,
ci = ∑
n Ci, n e
− i λn t, where
Ci, n = 〈
i|
λn ⟩ 〈
λn |
ψ (0) ⟩ is the spectral coefficient of mode
n. The relation of
Ci, n among the coupled sites reads
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn2.gif)
The relation allows estimating the parameters using the information retrieved from a subset of sites under the restricted-access condition. The simplest example is a linear chain as shown in Fig.
1, where only the leftmost site 1 is accessible. Given an
N-site chain with energies
εi known, all coupling strengths
Ji, i + 1 can be reconstructed using the spectral information simply read from site 1.
The feasibility of the scheme can be shown by the repetitive use of Eq. (2) and the normalization condition 〈i|i⟩ = 1. Given the eigenmode n, the C1, n of the leftmost site 1 allows deriving C2, n of the next one,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn3.gif)
Given that only
Ji, k with
k =
i ± 1 are nonvanishing in the linear chain, the repetitive use of Eq. (
2) yields the coefficients of subsequent sites recursively,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn4.gif)
The denominator
Ji, i + 1 should be non-zero, since a “broken” coupling forbids the retrieval of the information on the further site. Equations (
3) and (
4) allow for the recursive evaluation of
Ci + 1, n from
Ci, n and
Ci − 1, n.
On the other hand, the normalization condition 〈i|i⟩ = 1 should be satisfied. With Ci, n = 〈i|λn ⟩ 〈λn|ψ (0)⟩, we have
The unknown denominator 〈λn|ψ(0) ⟩ depends on the concrete form of the initial state |ψ(0)⟩. If the system is initially prepared by populating state |1⟩ only, as considered in our case, |ψ(0)⟩ = |1⟩, the denominator reads |〈λn|ψ (0) ⟩ |2 = |〈 λn |1 ⟩ |2 = C1, n and the normalization condition becomes
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn5.gif)
With only state |1⟩ accessible, the information of |1⟩,
c1(
t) = ∑
n C1, n e
−i λn t, is supposed to be acquired by the measurement, providing the input values of
C1, n and
λn for further parameter estimation. The measured
C1, n should be normalized by Eq. (
5). Next, substituting Eq. (
3) into Eq. (
5) with
i = 2, the normalization condition 〈2|2⟩ = 1 yields
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn6.gif)
and the normalized
C2, n using Eq. (
3). With the evaluated
Ji − 1, i,
Ci, n, and
Ci − 1, n, equation (
5) generates
Ji, i + 1 for
i ⩾ 2,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn7.gif)
Hence, all coupling strengths can be recursively evaluated based on the above derived Eqs. (
3), (
4), (
6), and (
7).
In a realistic experimental setup, the above scheme works for any system that can be reduced to the form equivalent to Eq. (1). In Ref. [17], the method is applied to the N-spin chain described by Heisenberg Hamiltonian
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn8.gif)
with
Δ the anisotropy,
Ji, i + 1 the nearest-neighbor interaction strength, and
σ± the spin raising and lowering operators,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn4.gif)
.
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn5.gif)
acts on the 2
N-dimensional Hilbert space of the
N-spin chain
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn6.gif)
, where
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn7.gif)
is a two-dimensional vector space over
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn8.gif)
spanned by the standard basis |0⟩ and |1⟩ corresponding to states of spin-up |↑⟩ and spin-down |↓⟩, respectively. The total
z-component of the spins,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn9.gif)
, is conversed, i.e.,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn10.gif)
, which means
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn11.gif)
can be decomposed into
N + 1 subspaces
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn12.gif)
according to the number of excitations (spin-ups)
n = 0, 1,…,
N,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn13.gif)
. For the purpose to estimate the unknown parameters as in Ref. [
16], we restrict
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn14.gif)
to the single excitation subspace
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn15.gif)
spanned by the basis vectors {|
i⟩,
i = 0, 1,…,
N}, where
i indicates the position of the excitation. Hence, we can alternatively map the spin chain containing a single excitation to a multi-state single particle system of chain-like structure. Assuming the system is prepared within the single excitation section, the subsequent evolution under the Hamiltonian (
8) is still restricted to the single excitation sector. The time evolution is mapped to the generic Schrödinger equation for a single particle, Eq. (
1), where the energies are given by
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn16.gif)
. Since the influence from disorder is not of concern in this work, all energies
εi are zero, i.e.,
Δ = 0, as will also be considered in the following discussion. The values of
C1, n are embedded in the reduced density matrix of |1⟩, which can be experimentally obtained by quantum state tomography.
[17] Here, we are not concerned with the specific realization of the measurement, Hence, the input variables
λn and
C1, n are assumed to be readily reachable, but they are not necessarily guaranteed to be completely precise, as will be discussed later.
The initial state of the entire spin chain system for the probing in the reconstruction algorithm can be chosen as |Ψ(0)⟩ = α|01 00 … 0 ⟩ + c |11 00 … 0 ⟩ = α | 0 ⟩ + c |1⟩, which means that only the leftmost spin has been excited to the |1⟩ state. For our purpose of unknown parameters estimation, it suffices to restrict
to the single excitation subspace
. As the ground state |0⟩ is the eigenstate of
, α dose not change during the evolution. Thus, at time t, the initial state |Ψ (0) ⟩ evolves to
with complex coefficients α and ci(t), where
. The initial conditions are then given by c1(0) = c and ci(0) = 0 (for all i ≠ 1). The spin chain system can be initialized in α |0⟩ + c |1⟩ by acting on the leftmost spin 1 only.[16] Then, by performing quantum-state tomography on spin 1 after time t, we can measure the element of the reduced density matrix of spin 1,
. And the eigenvalues λn and the spectral coefficients {C1, n = |〈1|λn⟩ |2} can be obtained through Fourier transform, which are the input variables of the reconstruction algorithm.
As a simple example, the estimation of Ji, i + 1 in a chain with 6 sites is demonstrated in Fig. 2. With only site 1 accessible, the time evolution of state |1⟩ [Fig. 2(a)] is supposed to be detectable. In the associated spectral distribution [Fig. 2(b)], the position and the height of each spectral peak provide λn and C1, n, respectively, as required input values for the estimation scheme. Performing the evaluation using Eqs. (3), (4), (6), and (7) recursively, we successfully reconstruct all the five unknown coupling strengths Ji, i + 1, as shown in Fig. 2(c).
3. Influence from errors of input variablesDuring the actual measurement, the finite instrumental resolution, the limited signal-noise ratio, and other perturbations may hinder the precise acquisition of initial input λn and C1, n. Therefore, the robustness of the algorithm against the deviations of these input values is critical to the success of the parameter estimation. The influence from imprecision of measured C1, n has been mentioned in Ref. [16], showing rather robust performance against small deviations. When the finite signal-noise ratio of the C1, n detection is considered, the even worse situation occurs when partial information is lost due to the truncation of small values. As shown in Fig. 2(d), the finite signal-noise ratio sets the truncation threshold. When the value of C1, n for peak 1 is below the line representing the threshold, the corresponding C1, n is missing. Besides the errors in C1, n which are encoded in the heights of the spectral peaks, the λn that are read from the positions of the peaks are also susceptible to errors during the measurement. As shown by peak 2 in Fig. 2(d), the nonvanishing spectral width caused by either the finite instrumental resolution or the fluctuation during the measurement may contribute to the uncertainty Δλn. The imprecise λn also deteriorates the performance of Ji, i + 1-reconstruction.
We take the example of the simplest parametric setup, a chain of 100 sites with identical coupling strengths Ji, i + 1 = 1 and energies εi = 0, to show how the input values influence the results. Under the ideal condition without any deviations of λn and C1, n, the simulated results show that Ji, i + 1 can be correctly recovered for a long chain (tested up to thousands sites). In a realistic experiment, however, the spectral peaks of small-valued C1, n may not be well resolved, or even simply be truncated. With the less number of observed peaks than the actual one, the lost information does influence the reconstructed results.
The influence from the truncation is shown in Fig. 3. For a homogeneous linear chain with all εi = ε and Ji, i + 1 = J, the eigenvalues are given by λn = ε + 2 J cos [πn/(N + 1)] for n = 1,…, N. The element of the associated eigenvector for the i-th site reads Ci, n = sin [nπi/(N + 1)]. For the accessible site 1, C1, n = sin [nπ/(N + 1)], as shown by the spectral distribution in Fig. 3(a). The C1, n of small values are around both the far ends along the λn-axis, where the data below a given threshold are truncated if a finite signal-noise ratio is specified. For different truncation thresholds as indicated in Fig. 3(b), the estimated results of Ji, i + 1 are compared in Figs. 3(c)–3(e).
Assuming that the maximum value of C1, n is Cmax, when the threshold is 10− 1 Cmax with ten pairs of C1, n truncated, significant deviation appears from i = 50. When the data below 10− 2 Cmax are truncated with three pairs of C1, n missing, the Ji, i + 1 can be correctly reconstructed up to i = 80. Further, when only one pair of data are truncated below the threshold 10− 3 Cmax, the deviations only appear at the rightmost sites of the chain. The results suggest that the complete data of C1,n should be important to the success of the algorithm. More intriguingly, though all C1, n contribute to the evaluation of each Ji, i + 1, when some components are missing, the chain can still be recovered to some extent instead of failing in the reconstruction as a whole, which shows the robustness of the algorithm.
The error δJi, i + 1 induced by the truncation appears to accumulate along the chain. To clarify this, we assume that a pair of small-valued input data C1, m1 = C1, m2 = δ for eigenvalues λm1 = −λm2 are truncated during the measurement and perform perturbation analysis of error propagation with respect to δ. From Eq. (4), it shows that all Ci, m are absent during the reconstruction as long as C1, m = δ of mode m is ignored from the input data. Taking variables up to the first order of δ, the linear approximations assume
, Ci, m = ξi, m δ, and
, where
and
are the reconstructed variables tainted by the truncation, and Ci, n and Ji, i + 1 are the true values. Perturbation parameter θi determines the deviation of the reconstructed coupling strength
from the true value Ji, i + 1. Next, we need to find σi,n, ξi, m, and θi from the recursive relations (4) and (7). Substituting the approximations into Eq. (7) and separating the contribution of the truncated components from the rest, the recursive relation of Ji, i + 1 takes the form
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ueqn1.gif)
The contributions from the acquired modes
Θmeasured and the truncated data
Θtruncated are
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ueqn2.gif)
respectively, where
Δn, i =
λn −
εi. Keeping terms up to the first order of
δ, eventually
θi can be determined recursively from
θi − 1,
σi − 1, n,
σi, n,
ξi − 1, m, and
ξi, m,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn9.gif)
with the initial condition
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn31.gif)
according to Eq. (
6).
Similarly, substituting the linear approximations into recursive relation (4), we can find the recursive formulas for ςi, n and ξi, m,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn10.gif)
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_eqn11.gif)
The initial conditions are
ς1, n = 0,
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn32.gif)
,
ξ1, m = 1, and
![](cpb_29_3_030305/cpb_29_3_030305_ieqn33.gif)
.
In Fig. 4, we present the comparisons between error estimation under the linear approximation of Eqs. (9), (10), and (11) with the results from the reconstruction algorithm under different circumstances. Figures 4(a) and 4(b) show the results for a homogeneous chain of identical coupling strengths Ji, i + 1 = 1 when N = 50 and 100, respectively. Figures 4(c) and 4(d) present the results for a non-homogeneous chain of randomly distributed J ∈ [0.9, 1.1] when N = 50 and 100, respectively. In all four cases, when the error propagates along the chain, the deviations appear earlier under the linear approximation than the original algorithm. It suggests that some nonlinearity associated to the algorithm could protect the reconstruction from deterioration. In this case, the linear approximation based on the perturbation analysis may provide the lower bound of the error introduced by the truncation of the input data during the measurement. However, the role of nonlinearity still requires further investigation.
Next, we consider the estimation when Ji, i + 1 vary with i, as we desired in practice. Without loss of generality, the Ji, i + 1 are randomly chosen within a given interval, i.e., the disorder induced by Ji, i + 1. It is shown that the interval is highly relevant to the performance of the estimation. Figures 5(a) and 5(b) present the dependence of the reconstruction on the interval. In Fig. 5(a), when the span is small, Ji, i + 1 ∈ [0.9, 1.1], the Ji, i + 1 can be correctly estimated up to i = 28. While when the span is large, Ji, i + 1 ∈ [0.8, 1.2], the applicability deteriorates, the estimated values
start deviating from Ji, i + 1 around site 16, as can be straightforwardly read from the error defined by
as shown in Fig. 5(c).
As discussed above, the reconstruction is rather robust for a long chain with identical Ji, i + 1. When Ji, i + 1 are randomly distributed, however, the effective distance of reconstruction is significantly shortened, showing an anticorrelation between the distance and the distribution interval of Ji, i + 1. Examining the spectral distribution, the anticorrelation can also be explained by the truncation of C1, n as discussed for the homogeneous chain. The distribution interval of Ji, i + 1 influences the spectral pattern and the probability to find C1, n around zero. With the distribution of random Ji, i + 1 broadened, the spectral distribution in Figs. 5(d) and 5(e) is no more as regular as that in the homogeneous chain. The C1, n scatter to a larger range with the increasing distribution interval of Ji, i + 1, and more C1, n approach zero. As discussed for the homogeneous chain, these near-zero C1, n are likely to be truncated, and the resultant lost spectral components worsen the applicability of the algorithm. In addition, it is found that the decreasing Ji, i + 1 also lowers the value of C1, n and impedes the parameter estimation, as can be intuitively understood since any broken bridge hinders the probe of further sites. The above discussion also applies when disorders of εi are involved as the spectral distribution also presents the similar pattern and suggests the involvement of the localization.
Besides the influence from the errors of C1, n, the measurement of λn also affects the Ji, i + 1 reconstruction. Assuming the actual eigenvalue is λn, the restricted resolution or disturbance during the experiment may deviate the measured value from λn,
. The fluctuation Δλn in each measurement results in the difference of the estimated
, as illustrated in Fig. 2(d). The eventual
should be the average of the reconstructed results after multiple measurements. We examine the parameter reconstruction when fluctuations Δλn around the true value of λn are involved. An example for a chain of N = 100 with coupling strengths Ji, i + 1 ∈ [0.9, 1, 1] is shown in Fig. 6(a), where all coupling strengths can be precisely reconstructed if no random error is introduced. To account for the influence from nonvanishing random errors, each of Δλn is chosen randomly for a single measurement, and the samples are generated from a normal distribution,
. Then we perform multiple simulated measurements and evaluate the averaged
. Figure 6(b) shows the averaged
from 2000 simulated measurements when σ = 0.001. Here, the influence of the truncation of small-valued C1, n is neglected.
From errors δ Ji, i + 1 as shown in Figs. 6(c)–6(e), the Ji, i + 1 can be roughly estimated up to i = 20, 40, and 60, respectively, for σ = 10− 1, 10− 2, and 10− 3. While without Δλn fluctuation [Fig. 6(a)], all Ji, i + 1 are correctly reconstructed. For the chain of N = 100, the average and minimum gaps of λn are 0.04 and 0.002, respectively. The average gap is larger than the fluctuations considered in Figs. 6(e) (σ = 0.001) and 6(d) (σ = 0.01) so that the spectral peaks are supposed to be resolved. For comparison, figure 6(c) takes σ = 0.1 which is large, showing the expected failure of the reconstruction scheme when the spectral peaks cannot be well resolved. Therefore, the precise measurement λn is shown to be critical to the precise reconstruction. For a longer chain, we do not find significant deviations. However, the denser spectral distribution with more states involved will hinder the precise retrieval of λn, if the instrumental resolution of λn-acquisition is finite.
4. ConclusionThe reconstruction of parameters within a partially accessible system is an important problem when indirect probing is the only option to acquire the desired information. In this work, the algorithm to estimate parameters in a linear chain with restricted access is extensively investigated, providing the necessary information to assess the algorithm robustness. Starting with the generic Schrödinger equation, it is confirmed that the coupling strengths can be efficiently deduced from the recursive relation using the spectral information of only the end site. We focus on the applicability of the algorithm, which is shown to be highly relevant to the spectral distribution on the accessible site. Given the errors induced by the finite signal-noise ratio, the increasing number of truncated spectral components is shown to gradually deteriorate the reconstruction performance. It is found that reducing the loss of spectral components is critical to the success of the method. Even so, the partially successful estimation in the presence of truncations shows the robustness of the algorithm and the estimation can be conducted in a controllable way. Since the spectral distribution is system dependent, the applicability of the method also varies with the systems. Accordingly, it is advisable to understand the nature of the system before applying the method.