physics

Pulse programming

Pulse programming is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pulse programming rather than just read about it. In short: Pulse programming in the field of experimental physics refers to engineering sinusoidal electromagnetic waveforms to have programmable frequencies, phases, and amplitudes. The main techniques and terminology arose in the study of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) during the 1970s, but has since been adopted in many other experimental settings, usually associated with quantum computing experiments.

Key takeaways

Pulse programming belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pulse programming to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pulse programming from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pulse programming in the field of experimental physics refers to engineering sinusoidal electromagnetic waveforms to have programmable frequencies, phases, and amplitudes. The main techniques and terminology arose in the study of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) during the 1970s, but has since been adopted in many other experimental settings, usually associated with quantum computing experiments. These include electron spin resonance (ESR), trapped ions, quantum dots, the phase/flux/charge across a superconducting junctions, and many other quantum bit implementations. Traditionally, pulse programmers were built using hard-wired analog electronics to produce a fixed sequence of waveforms, but modern pulse programmers make use of direct digital synthesis programmable electronics controlled by a personal computer to make precisely reproducible sequences.

Open source pulse programming There are several commercial pulse programmers available whose designs are proprietary. A notable open source pulse programmer system was originally designed by Paul Pham as part of his master's thesis at MIT under Isaac Chuang. It was first deployed in Rainer Blatt's quantum optics and spectroscopy group at the University of Innsbruck, and was later adopted by the following trapped ion research groups:

Tobias Schaetz's quantum analog simulation group at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, now at the University of Freiburg Piet Schmidt's quantum metrology group at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the German national standards body analogous to NIST in the United States. Boris Blinov's ion trap group at the University of Washington Hartmut Haeffner's ion trap group at the University of California, Berkeley Tilman Pfau's quantum optics group at the University of Stuttgart Andrew Drewson's ion trap group at the University of Aarhus Further extensions to the system were designed and implemented by Paul Pham while he resided at 419 Boylston in Seattle, with major contributions from Philipp Schindler at Innsbruck and Lutz Petersen at MPQ. As of 2010, the core part of the pulse programmer system (the FPGA sequencer board) is no longer being actively maintained. However, the Innsbruck group has designed and assembled its own custom DDS boards which generate the actual waveforms that is compatible with the FPGA sequencer board. A new open source system called ARTIQ is being developed by M-Labs.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pulse programming

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pulse programming claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pulse programming before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pulse programming ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pulse programming

In research: Pulse programming appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pulse programming in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pulse programming is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Quantum information science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pulse programming outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pulse programming in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pulse programming means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pulse programming out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pulse programming in simple terms?

Why does Pulse programming matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pulse programming?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pulse programming.