The tunable 0−π qubit: Dynamics and relaxation

In this paper, we present a systematic treatment of a [Formula: see text] qubit in the presence of a time-dependent external flux. A gauge-invariant Lagrangian and the corresponding Hamiltonian are obtained. The effect of the flux noise on the qubit relaxation is obtained using the perturbation theory. Under a time-dependent drive of sinusoidal form, the survival probability, and transition probabilities have been studied for different strengths and frequencies. The driven qubit is shown to possess coherent oscillations among two distinct states for a weak to moderate strength close to resonant frequencies of the unperturbed qubit. The parameters can be chosen to prepare the system in its ground state. This feature paves the way to prolong the lifetime by combining ideas from weak measurement and quantum Zeno effect. We believe that this is an important variation of a topologically protected qubit which is tunable.