Shortcuts to adiabaticity in three-level systems using Lie transforms

Abstract

Sped-up protocols that drive a system quickly to the same populations that can be reached by a slow adiabatic process may involve Hamiltonian terms which are difficult to realize. We use the dynamical symmetry of the Hamiltonian to find, by means of Lie transforms, alternative Hamiltonians that achieve the same goals without the problematic terms. We apply this technique to three-level systems (two interacting bosons in a double well, and beam splitters with two and three output channels) driven by Hamiltonians that belong to the four-dimensional algebra U3S3. © 2014 American Physical Society.