Robustness of open quantum systems at strong coupling

Open quantum systems theory describes the behaviour of quantum systems that are not isolated, but instead in contact with their surrounding environmental degrees of freedom. In particular, understanding open quantum systems is crucial to the development of future quantum technologies that are robust against noise.

This project seeks to understand the robustness of protocols for adiabatic quantum computation under the influence of strong reservoir interactions. This form of quantum computation encodes information within the ground state of a quantum system, which is then slowly manipulated to perform a desired operation. Using the theory developed, we will study ways in which thermal environments can impact such adiabatic protocols, with the aim of optimising them in the presence of strong environmental interactions.