Volume 01, pages 001-004.

MEDITATIONS ON GEOMETRY

24th July (2014).

The Geometric Phase Of The Qubit

Brian OSullivan
brianmosullivan@meditations-on-geometry.net

Through a direct analogy with classical parallel transport, the geometric phase of a two
level quantum system, or qubit, is defined. The time dependent azimuthal and polar
angles, trace the path of the qubit on the surface of the Bloch Sphere. When the qubit
completes a closed loop path, the orientation of the qubits tangent vector has changed
due to the curvature of the spherical surface. The geometric phase of the qubit is defined
as the angular change in the orientation of the tangent vector, and is shown to be a
contour integral involving the time parameterized azimuthal and polar angles.

Geometric phases in quantum mechanics is a topic that has

found formidable attention since the original work on this subject was compiled in 1983 [13]. This formalism for the quantum geometric phase, known as the Berry phase, arises when
one considers the cyclical evolution of a quantum state under the
adiabatic approximation. Whilst the Berry phase has proved a
formidable asset for the interpretation of phenomenological effects in physical systems and processes that are a result of the
observable geometric phase [2], it bears no direct relation to the
parallel transport of a tangent vector on a curved surface. Here
we aim to bridge the gap, so to speak, between the definition
of the quantum geometric phase and classical parallel transport.
To do so we consider the parallel transport of a tangent vector on
the surface of the unit 2-sphere, or the Bloch sphere. Since the
Bloch sphere is itself a geometrical representation of a pure two
level quantum state, or qubit (figure 1), we can use this model to
define the geometric phase of the qubit via parallel transport.
The Bloch vector (sin () cos () , sin () sin () , cos ()) is a
unit vector used to represent points on the Bloch sphere. The
time parameterised azimuthal and polar angles {(t), (t)} then
define the path traced by the Bloch vector. The qubits tangent
vector is a two dimensional vector which exists in the tangent
plane of the Bloch sphere; the origin of the tangent vector is located at the point defined by the Bloch vector. The time evolution
dictates how the qubits azimuthal and polar angles
operator U(t)
change in time. Hence this operator defines the path of the Bloch
vector, and subsequently the tangent vector. Here we parallel
transport the qubits tangent vector along the path ascribed by

U(t).
In this article we define the geometric phase of the qubit as
the change in the orientation of the qubits tangent vector, following the traversal of an arbitrary closed loop path on the surface of the Bloch sphere. The proposed formalism for the geometric phase of the qubit is in principle applicable to any time
evolution operator (and the related time dependent Hamiltonian)
which generates a smooth and continuous periodic path for the
qubit. This approach offers a new perspective on this dusty corner of quantum theory which the brooms of our understanding
are beginning to disturb, [2] pp. 8.
The article is structured as follows. In section 1 we define
the qubit, the Hamiltonian and the time evolution operator. In

Fig. 1: The Bloch sphere representation of the qubit defined by equation (1). The angle difference between the initial Bloch vector vi and the
final Bloch vector v f is the geometric phase g .

section 2 we define the geometric phase of the qubit, through a

direct analogy with classical parallel transport. In section 3 we
detail a proof-of-principle calculation for the time independent
Hamiltonian, and recover the text book results for the geometric
phase. We include the dynamical phase and highlight the role of
the global phase.

The Qubit

The qubit is a linear sum of two orthogonal basis states |ni, and is
expanded in polar form as, |(t)i = r0 (r)es0 (t) |0i+r1 (t)es1 (t) |1i,
for real {rn , sn }, and r02 + r12 = 1. We define, {r0 , r1 , s1 s0 }
1

Volume 01, pages 001-004.

{cos

 

, sin

 

MEDITATIONS ON GEOMETRY

24th July (2014).

, }, and the qubit is,

engineering approaches have facilitated the generation of analytical solutions for certain classes of time dependent Hamiltoni!
! !
(t)
(t)
ans [7,8]. Analytical solutions to specific time dependent Hamils0 (t)
(t)
|(t)i = e
cos
|0i + e
sin
|1i .
(1)
tonians are rare but have been found in certain cases, such as for
2
2
the monochromatically driven two level system [9], the hyperThe north and south poles of the Bloch sphere are the basis states bolic secant pulse [10], and many classes of pulses with different
{|0i, |1i}, and the angles of the qubit, {(t), (t)}, respectively cor- shapes, where the solution is written in terms of the Gauss hyrespond to the azimuthal and polar angles of the Bloch sphere, pergeometric function [11].
as shown in figure 1. As these angles change in time they charIn the context of the geometric phase of the qubit, time deacterize the path of the qubit on the surface of the Bloch sphere. pendent periodic Hamiltonians are particularly interesting, i.e.
The global phase of the qubit, s0 , is discussed in section 3.
those Hamiltonians which admit a periodic solution for the path
The path of the qubit on the surface of the Bloch sphere is of the qubit. Should such analytical solutions become widely

determined by the Hamiltonian operator H(t).

This operator dic- available, it would facilitate immensely the study of the geomettates the parameterization of the azimuthal and polar angles in ric phase. Presently we omit to pursue any investigation along
terms of the time t. We write Schrodingers equation in the form, these lines. Rather we focus this presentation on deriving, and
00 (t)i = H 00 (t)|00 (t)i. The Hamiltonian, H 00 (t), is a two by two
|
thus clarifying the definition of the qubits geometric phase.
Hermitian matrix with real eigenvalues. Its general form is given
by (where the primed and unprimed notation refers to a change 2 Parallel Transport Of The Qubit
of basis, and the dot is the derivative with respect to time),
At any point on the Bloch sphere, the qubits tangent vector v


lies in the tangent plane to Bloch sphere at the point defined by
1
(t) cos ((t))
x + (t) sin ((t))
y (t)
z .
H 00 (t) =
the Bloch vector, illustrated in figure 1. The tangent vector is
2
expanded in terms of its contravariant components as, v = v ~x() +
{(t), (t), (t)} are real valued functions of time,
a are the Pauli v ~x() , where ~x(a) are the basis vectors of the Bloch sphere. The
matrices, and we set ~ = 1. We can eliminate the
y component metric of the Bloch sphere is given by gab = ~x(a) ~x(b) , with
of the Hamiltonian by moving to the rotating frame, |(t)i = {g , g } = {1, sin2 ()}, and g = g = 0.
(t)
= S z H 00 (t)S z S z S z ,
S z |00 (t)i, with S z = e 2 z , to find, H(t)
The qubits path C on the surface of the Bloch sphere is given
parametrically by {(t), (t)}. The tangent vector v is parallel
= (t) (sin ((t))
H(t)
x cos ((t))
z) .
(2) transported along C such that dv
dt = 0, at each point on the path.
2
In an arbitrary coordinate system, the contravariant vector components are parallel transported according to,
The eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian are, (t)
2 , with,
q
dva
Dva
dxc
(t) = ((t) + (t))2 + 2 (t), and, {cos ((t)) , sin ((t))} =

+ a bc vb
= 0,
Dt
dt
dt
{ (t)+(t) , (t) }. Thus once the functions {(t), (t)} are specified,
(t)

(t)

the Hamiltonian is defined in any basis.

The time evolution operator U(t),

is a solution of the

U(t).

Schrodinger equation, U(t)

= H(t)
The time evolution of

the qubit is then, |(t)i = U(t)|(0)i.

This operator comprises
the special unitary group of two by two matrices, SU(2), and
assumes the form,
!
A(t)
B(t)

U(t) =
.
(3)
B (t) A (t)
|A(t)|2 + |B(t)|2 = 1, and {A(t), B(t)} are complex functions of
the corresponding Hamiltonian is given by
time. For any U(t)

U (t). The inverse problem of finding the time evo = U(t)

H(t)
corresponding to a chosen Hamiltonian H(t)

lution operator U(t)

is notoriously difficult. This problem has been addressed since
the inception of Quantum Mechanics and it persists to this day.
Many of the analytical solutions that have been found are
based on an inverse engineering approach. These solutions have
applications in the fast and stable preparation of quantum states
[4]. These schemes are in part based on the Ermakov-Lewis Invariant [5] and the Lewis-Riesenfeld phases [6]. Other inverse
2

where we have adopted the notational convention of [12]. a bc is

the Christoffel symbol given by,
!
gad gdb gcd gbc
a
bc =
+
d .
2 xc
xb
x

Here gad is the inverse metric which satisfies gad gdb = ab . The
non-zero metric connections are, = sin cos , and, =
= cot . From the equation of parallel transport, we obtain
the coupled differential equations,
dv
= sin () cos () v ,
d
!
dv

d
= cot () v + v
,
d
d
where, (). When the parallel transport of the qubit is restricted
along lines of constant latitude (or along a meridian), one may
d
set d
= 0 to reduce the analysis considerably. Here the qubits
trajectory is smooth, continuous and differentiable and not red
stricted along parallel lines, thus d
, 0.

Volume 01, pages 001-004.

MEDITATIONS ON GEOMETRY

By taking the derivative of both with respect to , we obtain

two decoupled second order differential equations for v and v
respectively. Thereby we find,
!
d dv
d 2 v
+ tan ()
+ cos2 () v = 0,
d d
d2
!
d 2 v
1 + cos2 () d dv
d2
2
+
+ cos () + cot () 2 v = 0.
sin () cos () d d
d2
d

24th July (2014).

Since this operator is time independent we can move to the diagonal basis via, |(t)i = S y |0 (t)i. The Schrodinger equation of
0 (t)i = D 0 |0 (t)i. The elements of the
the qubit then becomes, |
0 t
corresponding time evolution operator are {A(t), B(t)} = {e 2 , 0},
and we find = 0 . The azimuthal angle 00 is constant, and given
by the initial state.
One orbit of the Bloch sphere is completed when, t = 2
0 t f .
The geometric phase is thus,
Z tf
 
 
g =
dt 0 cos 00 = 2 cos 00 .

The solution to the first equation

  is givendby,
0
v () = A cos g + B sin g , where dg = cos (). Defining

the initial values, {v (i ), v (i ), (i )} = {v0 , v0 , 0 }, and the ini- The dynamical phase is the integral of the energy,
tial phase, i = 0. The constants are given by the initial state,
Z tf
 
d
{A, B} = {v0 , sin (0 ) v0 }, since {g (), dg }=0 = {0, cos (0 )}. The
d =
dt h(t)|D 0 |(t)i = cos 00 .
0
general solution is then,
 
 
Here we note that the global phase,
v () = v0 cos g + v0 sin (0 ) sin g ,
Z tf





v

(
)
sin
= ,
s
(t
)
=

dt

0
0 f
0
v cos g
v () =
sin

.
2

g
0
0
sin ()
sin (0 )
when one orbit is completed, and is equal to 2 when two orbits
The covariant components of the tangent vector relate to the con- are completed, and the qubit returns to its initial state. As if
travariant components as, va = gab vb , and the length of the vec- traveling on the surface of a Mobius strip, the qubit must trace
 2
tor is unchanged as expected, v2 = v v = gab va vb = v0 + out its periodic trajectory twice to return to its initial position,
 2
which is the signature of spin one half, fermionic systems.
sin2 () v0 = v2i . The (normalised) projection of the final vecFor clarity and completeness we now calculate the geometric
tor v f v( f ), on the initial vector vi v(i ), gives the cosine

phase in the non-diagonal basis, |R (t)i

= H 0 |(t)i. The time
t
of the geometric phase. We have,
0

dt
D
0
= S y e 0
evolution operator is, U(t)
S y , with


vi v f
gab va (i )vb ( f )
 t
 t
0
0
= cos g ( f ) .
=
c
d
+ cos (0 ) sin
,
A(t) = cos
vi vi
gcd v (i )v (i )
2
2
 t
0
The geometric phase is a closed contour integral involving the
B(t) = sin (0 ) sin
,
2
azimuthal and polar angles {, }, which are parameterized by
the time t. We have,
for the time evolution operator of equation (3). It follows that,
I
Z tf
cos ((t)) = cos (0 ) cos (0 + 0 ) +
cos ((t)) .
g ( f ) =
d cos (()) =
dt (t)
(4)
(5)
C
ti
sin (0 ) sin (0 + 0 ) cos (0 t) .
and cos ((t)) have been specified the geOnce the functions (t)
ometric phase is known. Equation (4), the geometric phase of
the qubit, is the main result of this article. In the following section we outline a proof-of-principle calculation for the geometric
phase of a time independent Hamiltonian.
3

Geometric Phase: Time-Independent Hamiltonian

We define the time independent Hamiltonian,

by writing the Schrodinger equation in the

We resolve for (t)

is a diagonal
form, E(t)U(t)|(0)i = H 0 U(t)|(0)i,
where E(t)

matrix whose diagonal elements are, 2 tan () + s0 , and,

= s1 (t) s0 (t),
2 cot ()+ s1 , respectively. Therefore we find, (t)
 



 

sin 20 sin 20 + 0
cos 20 cos 20 + 0
=
 
 
(t)
+
.
2 sin2 (t)
2 cos2 (t)
2
2

This result together with equation (5), renders the geometric phase
integrable.
From equation (5), it is clear that a single Rabi oscillation is
2
with {0 , 0 } constant. The time independent Hamiltonian is completed when, t = 0 t f . Using a computational software

diagonalized as, H0 = S y D0 S y , where, D0 is a diagonal ma- program, the geometric phase is then resolved analytically as,
Z tf
trix whose diagonal elements are the eigenvalues { 20 , 20 }. The
0
cos ((t)) = 2 cos (0 + 0 ) .

=
dt (t)

y
g
columns of S y = e 2 , are the eigenvectors {|0 i, |1 i}, of H 0 .
0
0
(sin (0 )
x cos (0 )
z) ,
H 0
2

Volume 01, pages 001-004.

MEDITATIONS ON GEOMETRY

It is straightforward to prove that the initial state in the diagonal basis relates to the initial state in the non-diagonal basis as
0 = 00 0 , which shows that the geometric phase for the time
independent Hamiltonian is invariant under a change of basis.
The dynamical phase is the integral of the energy,
d =

tf

dt h(t)|H 0 |(t)i = cos (0 + 0 ) .

It is easy to show numerically that the global phase of the qubit

s0 (t f ) = , after traversing the path C. An analytical form can
be found for s0 (t) in terms of inverse trigonometric functions, although this renders the phase zero when the limits of integration
are taken. In this sense the global phase is non-integrable, and
must be numerically integrated.
4

Conclusion

Through a direct analogy with classical parallel transport, we

have defined the geometric phase of the qubit as a contour integral involving the time parameterized azimuthal and polar angles. As a result the geometric phase of the qubit depends on the
path traversed, and in some respects can be considered a measure of the path history. The path itself is defined by the time

evolution operator U(t),

or equivalently the Hamiltonian opera
tor H(t). Typically the global phase of the qubit is neglected as
it is considered a non-observable; however the results derived
herein have suggested that the global phase is non-negligible,
and we have shown that for the time independent Hamiltonian
the global phase allows the qubit to be interpreted as a spin one
half fermionic particle.
In the context of the Berry phase, it is often quoted that the
global phase of the qubit is a linear sum of the dynamical and geometrical phase factors [1]. Here we have found that whilst the
global phase is visibly present in the definition of the qubit (1),
the geometric phase (4) may only be deduced from the equation
of parallel transport, and in this respect is quite literally hidden. It bears no obvious relation to the dynamical phase, and is
a completely separate entity to the global phase.
The application of these results to the time dependent regime
is the focus of future work. Investigations along these lines potentially offers a means of categorizing the time evolution operators, via the geometric, dynamical and global phases. In general
the geometric phase (4) and the global phase are not easily integrated, due to the appearance of inverse trigonometric functions
in many cases. However, a powerful tool for preliminary investigation presents itself in the methodology employed for the design of fast population inversion schemes [13]. Here the path of
the qubit is chosen to satisfy required boundary conditions and
stability constraints. The corresponding elements of the Hamiltonian are then found by inverse engineering techniques. This
approach affords us the luxury of choosing the periodic path of
the qubit, which may be described in a simple functional form
which is easily integrated.
4

24th July (2014).

Acknowledgements
I am greatly indebted to my family, Karen Hennessy and Pika
Chiu for support and encouragement. The development of this
work was favoured by many prosperous discussions with Andreas Ruschhaupt. Dedicated to Ethan James Wong on his first
birthday, may you continue to find that which you seek.
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