The Landau--Zener (LZ) model describes a two-level quantum system that undergoes an avoided crossing. In the adiabatic limit, the transition probability vanishes. An auxiliary control field $H_\text{ CD}$ can be reverse-engineered so that the full Hamiltonian $H_0 + H_\text{ CD}$ reproduces adiabaticity for all parameter values. Our aim is to construct a single control field $H_1$ that drives an ensemble of LZ-type Hamiltonians with a distribution of energy gaps. $H_1$ works best statistically, minimizing the average transition probability. We restrict our attention to a special class of $H_1$ controls, motivated by $H_\text{ CD}$. We found a systematic trade-off between instantaneous adiabaticity and the final transition probability. Certain limiting cases with a linear sweep can be treated analytically; one of them being the LZ system with Dirac $\delta(t)$ function. Comprehensive and systematic numerical simulations support and extend the analytic results.
Categories: quant-ph physics.atom-ph