Deterministic Equations for Feedback Control of Open Quantum Systems II: Properties of the memory function

Abstract

Feedback uses past detection outcomes to dynamically modify a quantum system and is central to quantum control. These outcomes can be stored in a memory, defined as a stochastic function of past measurements. In this work, we investigate the main properties of a general memory function subject to arbitrary feedback dynamics. We show that the memory can be treated as a classical system coupled to the monitored quantum system, and that their joint evolution is described by a hybrid bipartite state. This framework allows us to introduce information-theoretic measures that quantify the correlations between the system and the memory. Furthermore, we develop a general framework to characterize the statistics of the memory -- such as moments, cumulants, and correlation functions -- which can be applied both to general feedback-control protocols and to monitored systems without feedback. As an application, we analyze feedback schemes based on detection events in a two-level system coupled to a thermal bath, focusing on protocols that stabilize either the excited-state population or Rabi oscillations against thermal dissipation.