Quantum Optimal Control of Interacting Multi-Rotor Systems

Efficient computational methods are needed to simulate the control of many-body quantum systems, whose total Hilbert space dimensions scale exponentially with the number of degrees of freedom present. This “curse of dimensionality” means that exact calculations are often intractable for systems of interest, and to move forward, we must introduce approximations into quantum control simulations. In this talk, I will discuss my work applying approximate computational methods to study quantum control of many interacting molecular rotors. The assumptions and tradeoffs underlying the approximations will be explained and situated in a broader context, with emphasis given to their potential relevance to other classes of quantum systems. Finally, I will review the key results of my work, which illustrate that a diverse collection of control objectives can be achieved in multi-rotor systems using a single, global control field.