Proposal for application of coherent control to qubit readout in circuit QED

High fidelity readout of superconducting qubits in circuit-QED requires effective protocols for mapping the 0,1 computational basis states onto macroscopically distinguishable states of the system. We explore the possibility of conditionally steering the system from the computational basis into quasi-coherent latching states of the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. We discuss the applicability of methods inspired by quantum optics and quantum control theory to this problem, based on realistic physical considerations pertaining to the transmon superconducting qubit.