Digital Quantum Simulation with Rydberg Atoms

We discuss in detail the implementation of an open-system quantum simulator with Rydberg states of neutral atoms held in an optical lattice. Our scheme allows one to realize both coherent as well as dissipative dynamics of complex spin models involving many-body interactions and constraints. The central building block of the simulation scheme is constituted by a mesoscopic Rydberg gate that permits the entanglement of several atoms in an efficient, robust and quick protocol. In addition, optical pumping on ancillary atoms provides the dissipative ingredient for engineering the coupling between the system and a tailored environment. As an illustration, we discuss how the simulator enables the simulation of coherent evolution of quantum spin models such as the two-dimensional Heisenberg model and Kitaev's toric code, which involves four-body spin interactions. We moreover show that in principle also the simulation of lattice fermions can be achieved. As an example for controlled dissipative dynamics, we discuss ground state cooling of frustration-free spin Hamiltonians.Comment: submitted to special issue "Quantum Information with Neutral Particles" of "Quantum Information Processing

A Rydberg Quantum Simulator

Following Feynman and as elaborated on by Lloyd, a universal quantum simulator (QS) is a controlled quantum device which reproduces the dynamics of any other many particle quantum system with short range interactions. This dynamics can refer to both coherent Hamiltonian and dissipative open system evolution. We investigate how laser excited Rydberg atoms in large spacing optical or magnetic lattices can provide an efficient implementation of a universal QS for spin models involving (high order) n-body interactions. This includes the simulation of Hamiltonians of exotic spin models involving n-particle constraints such as the Kitaev toric code, color code, and lattice gauge theories with spin liquid phases. In addition, it provides the ingredients for dissipative preparation of entangled states based on engineering n-particle reservoir couplings. The key basic building blocks of our architecture are efficient and high-fidelity n-qubit entangling gates via auxiliary Rydberg atoms, including a possible dissipative time step via optical pumping. This allows to mimic the time evolution of the system by a sequence of fast, parallel and high-fidelity n-particle coherent and dissipative Rydberg gates.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Towards quantum simulation with circular Rydberg atoms

The main objective of quantum simulation is an in-depth understanding of many-body physics. It is important for fundamental issues (quantum phase transitions, transport, . . . ) and for the development of innovative materials. Analytic approaches to many-body systems are limited and the huge size of their Hilbert space makes numerical simulations on classical computers intractable. A quantum simulator avoids these limitations by transcribing the system of interest into another, with the same dynamics but with interaction parameters under control and with experimental access to all relevant observables. Quantum simulation of spin systems is being explored with trapped ions, neutral atoms and superconducting devices. We propose here a new paradigm for quantum simulation of spin-1/2 arrays providing unprecedented flexibility and allowing one to explore domains beyond the reach of other platforms. It is based on laser-trapped circular Rydberg atoms. Their long intrinsic lifetimes combined with the inhibition of their microwave spontaneous emission and their low sensitivity to collisions and photoionization make trapping lifetimes in the minute range realistic with state-of-the-art techniques. Ultra-cold defect-free circular atom chains can be prepared by a variant of the evaporative cooling method. This method also leads to the individual detection of arbitrary spin observables. The proposed simulator realizes an XXZ spin-1/2 Hamiltonian with nearest-neighbor couplings ranging from a few to tens of kHz. All the model parameters can be tuned at will, making a large range of simulations accessible. The system evolution can be followed over times in the range of seconds, long enough to be relevant for ground-state adiabatic preparation and for the study of thermalization, disorder or Floquet time crystals. This platform presents unrivaled features for quantum simulation

Ab-initio two-dimensional digital twin for quantum computer benchmarking

Large-scale numerical simulations of the Hamiltonian dynamics of a Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer - a digital twin - could play a major role in developing efficient and scalable strategies for tuning quantum algorithms for specific hardware. Via a two-dimensional tensor network digital twin of a Rydberg atom quantum computer, we demonstrate the feasibility of such a program. In particular, we quantify the effects of gate crosstalks induced by the van der Waals interaction between Rydberg atoms: according to an 8x8 digital twin simulation based on the current state-of-the-art experimental setups, the initial state of a five-qubit repetition code can be prepared with a high fidelity, a first indicator for a compatibility with fault-tolerant quantum computing. The preparation of a 64-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state with about 700 gates yields a 99.9% fidelity in a closed system while achieving a speedup of 35% via parallelization.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Full counting statistics and phase diagram of a dissipative Rydberg gas

Ultra-cold gases excited to strongly interacting Rydberg states are a promising system for quantum simulations of many-body systems. For off-resonant excitation of such systems in the dissipative regime, highly correlated many-body states exhibiting, among other characteristics, intermittency and multi-modal counting distributions are expected to be created. So far, experiments with Rydberg atoms have been carried out in the resonant, non-dissipative regime. Here we realize a dissipative gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms and measure its full counting statistics for both resonant and off-resonant excitation. We find strongly bimodal counting distributions in the off-resonant regime that are compatible with intermittency due to the coexistence of dynamical phases. Moreover, we measure the phase diagram of the system and find good agreement with recent theoretical predictions. Our results pave the way towards detailed studies of many-body effects in Rydberg gases.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Lattice gauge theories simulations in the quantum information era

The many-body problem is ubiquitous in the theoretical description of physical phenomena, ranging from the behavior of elementary particles to the physics of electrons in solids. Most of our understanding of many-body systems comes from analyzing the symmetry properties of Hamiltonian and states: the most striking example are gauge theories such as quantum electrodynamics, where a local symmetry strongly constrains the microscopic dynamics. The physics of such gauge theories is relevant for the understanding of a diverse set of systems, including frustrated quantum magnets and the collective dynamics of elementary particles within the standard model. In the last few years, several approaches have been put forward to tackle the complex dynamics of gauge theories using quantum information concepts. In particular, quantum simulation platforms have been put forward for the realization of synthetic gauge theories, and novel classical simulation algorithms based on quantum information concepts have been formulated. In this review we present an introduction to these approaches, illustrating the basics concepts and highlighting the connections between apparently very different fields, and report the recent developments in this new thriving field of research.Comment: Pedagogical review article. Originally submitted to Contemporary Physics, the final version will appear soon on the on-line version of the journal. 34 page