Coherent-state spin qubits in the presence of spin-orbit coupling

The dynamics of any electron-based qubit in quantum condensed-matter systems will inherently involve both spin and charge degrees of freedom however it is defined. The spin-orbit interaction will cause both spin precession and spin-charge entanglement and the resulting dynamics can be very complex. Here we report a scheme for performing quantum logic operations in quantum condensed-matter systems using coherent-state spin qubits that exploit both the electron's charge and spin degrees of freedom. In addition to the conceptual interest in such qubits, our analytical and numerical techniques have general applicability to many-electron dynamics in spin-orbit systems.