We compare the performance of continuous coherent feedback, implemented using an ideal singlequbit controller, to that of continuous measurement-based feedback for the task of controlling the state of a single qubit. Here the basic dynamical resource is the ability to couple the system to a traveling-wave field (for example, a transmission line) via a system observable, and the fundamental limitation is the maximum rate that is available for this coupling. We focus on the question of the best achievable control given ideal controllers. To obtain a fair comparison we acknowledge that the amplification involved in measurement-based control allows the controller to use macroscopic fields to apply feedback forces to the system, so it is natural to allow these feedback forces to be much larger than the mesoscopic coupling to the transmission line that mediates both the measurement for measurement-based control and the coupling to the mesoscopic controller for coherent control. Interestingly our numerical results indicate that under the above platform for comparison, coherent feedback is able to exactly match the performance of measurement-based feedback given ideal controllers. We also discuss various properties of, and control mechanisms for, coherent feedback networks.

Feedback control of quantum systems via continuous measurement involves complex nonlinear dynamics. Except in very special cases, even for a single qubit optimal feedback protocols are unknown. Intuitive candidates do not even exist for choosing the measurement basis, which is the primary non-trivial ingredient in the feedback control of a qubit. Here we present a series of arguments that suggest a particular form for the optimal protocol for a broad class of noise sources in the regime of good control. This regime is defined as that in which the control is strong enough to keep the system close to the desired state. With the assumption of this form the remaining parameters can be determined via a numerical search. The result is a non-trivial feedback protocol valid for all feedback strengths in the regime of good control. We conjecture that this protocol is optimal to leading order in the small parameters that define this regime. The protocol can be described relatively simply, and as a notable feature contains a discontinuity as a function of the feedback strength.S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/njp/16/093059/ mmedia

The implementation of polarization-based quantum communication is limited by signal loss and decoherence caused by the birefringence of a single-mode fiber. We investigate the Knill dynamical decoupling scheme, implemented using half-wave plates, to minimize decoherence and show that a fidelity greater than 99% can be achieved in absence of rotation error and fidelity greater than 96% can be achieved in presence of rotation error. Such a scheme can be used to preserve any quantum state with high fidelity and has potential application for constructing all optical quantum delay line, quantum memory, and quantum repeater.

We examine the Nagel-Schreckenberg traffic model for a variety of maximum speeds. We show that the low-density limit can be described as a dilute gas of vehicles with a repulsive core. At the transition to jamming, we observe finite-size effects in a variety of quantities describing the flow and the density correlations, but only if the maximum speed V_{max} is larger than a certain value. A finite-size scaling analysis of several order parameters shows universal behavior, with scaling exponents that depend on V_{max}. The jamming transition at large V_{max} can be viewed as the nucleation of jams in a background of freely flowing vehicles. For small V_{max} no such clean separation into jammed and free vehicles is possible.

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