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The original Figure 1 has the allowed chain $1\leftrightarrow 2\leftrightarrow 3\leftrightarrow 4$. Its positive resonance frequencies are ${\omega }_1=E_2-E_1$, ${\omega }_2=E_2-E_3$ and ${\omega }_3=E_4-E_3$ in units $\hslash =1$; level 2 lies above level 3. Use a pulse at ${\omega }_1$ to transfer level population from 1 to 2, then one at ${\omega }_2$ to transfer it from 2 to 3, and finally one at ${\omega }_3$ to transfer it from 3 to 4.

For a selected pair, choose the optical phase so the effective Quantum Hamiltonian has a fixed off-diagonal rotation axis. If its coupling coefficient is $g_{jk}(t)=A_{jk}(t)|d_{jk}|/2$ in this normalization, the active two-dimensional propagator iswhere $K_{jk}^2=I_{jk}$. A full level population transfer has $\beta =\pi /2$. Equivalently, in the Rabi-frequency convention ${\Omega }_R=2g_{jk}$, the required area is $\int {\Omega }_{R}dt=\pi$. On spectator levels the embedded two-level quantum rotation is the identity.

Thus three selective $\pi$ pulses at ${\omega }_1,{\omega }_2,{\omega }_3$, in that order, transfer $|1⟩$ to $|4⟩$ up to global phase. A strongly regular quantum Hamiltonian separates the resonances; envelopes long enough that their bandwidth and coupling strength are small relative to unwanted frequency gaps make off-resonant excitation arbitrarily small within the selective-pulse limit. The phases accumulated along this path do not affect the final level population.

For each fixed phase ${\varphi }_k$, the single-transition Quantum Hamiltonian is ${\Omega }_k(t)H_k({\varphi }_k)$, so its generators at different times commute. Its exact propagator depends only on ${\theta }_k(t)={\hslash }^{-1}{\int }_0^t{\Omega }_k(\tau )d\tau$. On the active two-level subspace, $H_k^2=I$; on the spectator state, $H_k=0$. Thus it is an embedded two-level quantum rotation, not an involution on the whole three-dimensional space. Explicitly,The spectator entries in both matrices are exactly one; the converted TeX damages the second matrix, so these entries use the PDF.

The proposed combined exponential is false in general for two independent envelopes. Direct multiplication givessoThe constant pulse-axis condition for removing time ordering holds if both envelopes are proportional to the same function, but not for generic independent controls. For example, turn on only the first transition, then only the second. The result is $e^{-i{\theta }_2{H}_2}{e}^{-i{\theta }_1{H}_1}$, whose Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula includes a nonzero commutator correction, rather than simply $e^{-i({\theta }_1{H}_1+{\theta }_2{H}_2)}$.

There is also a literal source defect: the PDF's right-hand exponent omits the factor $-i$ on its second term. With ${\theta }_1=0$ it would give $e^{{\theta }_2{H}_2}$, which has eigenvalues $e^{\pm {\theta }_2}$ and is not unitary for real nonzero ${\theta }_2$, whereas the true propagator is unitary. Even after repairing that missing factor, time ordering is still necessary unless the commutators vanish.