Pulses driven by artificial intelligence tame quantum systems

It’s easy to control the trajectory of a basketball: Just apply mechanical force coupled with human skill. But controlling the movement of quantum systems such as atoms and electrons is much more challenging, as these minuscule scraps of matter often fall prey to perturbations that knock them off their path in unpredictable ways. Movement within the system degrades—a process called damping—and noise from environmental effects such as temperature also disturbs its trajectory.