Quantum nonlinear feedback control is developed for traveling optical fields. We first describe the discretization of the traveling optical fields. The discrete-time formulation is used to describe the stochastic master equation subject to homodyne measurement. Nonlinear feedback is formulated by directly feeding the measurement outcomes back to the traveling field through a multiplicative action. Since the measurement outcomes have a correlation with the system, the multiplicative feedback control can create nonlinear effects in the traveling field. In this formulation, a time delay is naturally introduced in the feedback loop. This is essentially different from instantaneous feedback in a continuous-time setting. As an example of the feedback scheme, a quantum nondemolition sum gate is considered. Numerical results show that quantum superposition state can be created by applying the feedback to a squeezed state.

• Received 20 May 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.82.033820