Counterdiabatic Optimised Local Driving

Speeding up adiabatic protocols is key in the future development and use of quantum technologies. We present a new method for solving this problem: counterdiabatic optimised local driving (COLD). It combines two existing complementary methodologies - quantum optimal control and shortcuts to adiabaticity - while taking advantage of the strengths of each. The new method improves upon approximate counterdiabatic driving - an approach in shortcuts to adiabaticity which aims to suppress nonadiabatic transitions - by adding supplementary control fields which increase its effectiveness - as one would in the case of optimal control. We show that COLD can result in a substantial improvement when applied to annealing protocols, state preparation schemes and state transfer on a lattice. Furthermore, we combine counterdiabatic optimised local driving with an existing advanced optimal control method - chopped randomised basis - for a potential further improvement.