We present a formulation of feedback in quantum systems in which the best estimates of the dynamical variables are obtained continuously from the measurement record, and fed back to control the system. We apply this method to the problem of cooling and confining a single quantum degree of freedom, and compare it to current schemes in which the measurement signal is fed back directly in the manner usually considered in existing treatments of quantum feedback. Direct feedback may be combined with feedback by estimation, and the resulting combination, performed on a linear system, is closely analogous to classical linear-quadratic-Gaussian control theory with residual feedback.

• Received 24 November 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.60.2700