Adriana Sakeena

Adriana Sakeena

Biography

Adriana Sakeena is a rising sophomore from the Houston, Texas area studying
Computer Science at Howard University with double minors in Mathematics and Physics. She
is a member of the ninth cohort of the Karsh STEM Scholars Program, where she has
continued to pursue her passion for research and interdisciplinary learning. Inspired by a
lifelong curiosity about the universe, her interests evolved from astrophysics to quantum
computing and its potential to develop transformative technologies. Her academic interests
focus on applying the mathematical principles of quantum systems to practical computing,
particularly quantum machine learning and quantum information. Through her summer
research at MIT, she is studying superconducting qubit readout and resonator-based quantum
measurement while gaining experience in theoretical modeling, circuit quantum
electrodynamics, and scientific communication. Outside of research, she enjoys mentoring
students, learning independently, and expanding opportunities for underrepresented
communities in STEM.

All-Pass Readout Using a Coupled Bright-Dark Resonator Architecture
1Adriana Sakeena, 2Daniela Zaidenberg, 2Kevin P. O’Brien
1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Howard University
2Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Accurate, high-fidelity readout of superconducting qubits is essential for scalable quantum
computing, yet achieving efficient qubit-state discrimination while minimizing reflection remains an
important challenge. Previous reflectionless readout designs relied on resonators that simultaneously
coupled to both the transmission line and the qubit. This work investigates an alternative architecture
that separates these functions by coupling bright resonators to the transmission line and dark
resonators to the qubit, with the goal of preserving reflectionless transmission while enabling
reliable qubit-state discrimination. Using temporal coupled-mode theory, a theoretical model of a
four-resonator system was developed, and analytical expressions describing the system dynamics,
scattering parameters, and the transmission and reflection magnitudes and phases were derived.
Numerical simulations were then performed to investigate the effects of qubit-induced dispersive
loading and parity-mode mixing on readout performance. The analysis shows that all-pass behavior
requires duplicated even- and odd-mode pole structures within each qubit state. The shared pole
structure must then shift between qubit states so that the transmitted microwave signal acquires a
qubit-dependent phase for state discrimination. Unequal loading or parity-mode mixing breaks this
symmetry, degrading readout performance. These results provide theoretical design guidelines for
optimizing high-fidelity superconducting qubit readout architectures.