Dynamical engineering of interactions in qudit ensembles

Abstract

We propose and analyze a method to engineer effective interactions in an ensemble of d-level systems (qudits) driven by global control fields. In particular, we present (i) a necessary and sufficient condition under which a given interaction can be turned off (decoupled), (ii) the existence of a universal sequence that decouples any (cancellable) interaction, and (iii) an efficient algorithm to engineer a target Hamiltonian from an initial Hamiltonian (if possible). As examples, we provide a 6-pulse sequence that decouples effective spin-1 dipolar interactions and demonstrate that a spin- 1 Ising chain can be engineered to study transitions among three distinct symmetry protected topological phases.