Optimal shortcuts of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in the presence of dissipation.

We use optimal control theory to obtain shortcuts to adiabaticity which maximize population transfer in a three-level stimulated Raman adiabatic passage system, for a given finite duration of the process and a specified dissipation rate at the intermediate state. We fix the sum of the intensities of the pump and Stokes pulses and use the mixing angle of the fields as the sole control variable. We determine the optimal variation of this angle and reveal the role of the singular arc in the optimal trajectory, in order to minimize the effect of dissipation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Shortcuts to adiabaticity: theoretical, experimental and interdisciplinary perspectives'.