Creation and manipulation of surface code defects with quantum optimal control

The surface code is a spin-1/2 lattice system that can exhibit non-trivial topological order when defects are punctured in the lattice and thus can be used as a stabiliser code. The protocols developed to create defects in the system have previously relied on adiabatic dynamics. In this work we use techniques of quantum optimal control to overcome the requirement for adiabaticity and achieve defect creation and implemention of other important operations required for quantum computation at much faster timescales.