A pseudospectral method for optimal control of open quantum systems

In this paper, we present a unified computational method based on pseudospectral approximations for the design of optimal pulse sequences in open quantum systems. The proposed method transforms the problem of optimal pulse design, which is formulated as a continuous-time optimal control problem, to a finite-dimensional constrained nonlinear programming problem. This resulting optimization problem can then be solved using existing numerical optimization suites. We apply the Legendre pseudospectral method to a series of optimal control problems on open quantum systems that arise in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in liquids. These problems have been well studied in previous literature and analytical optimal controls have been found. We find an excellent agreement between the maximum transfer efficiency produced by our computational method and the analytical expressions. Moreover, our method permits us to extend the analysis and address practical concerns, including smoothing discontinuous controls as well as deriving minimum-energy and time-optimal controls. The method is not restricted to the systems studied in this article and is applicable to optimal manipulation of both closed and open quantum systems.