130 research outputs found
Fast Multiqubit Gates through Simultaneous Two-Qubit Gates
Near-term quantum computers are limited by the decoherence of qubits to only being able to run low-depth quantum circuits with acceptable fidelity. This severely restricts what quantum algorithms can be compiled and implemented on such devices. One way to overcome these limitations is to expand the available gate set from single- and two-qubit gates to multiqubit gates, which entangle three or more qubits in a single step. Here, we show that such multiqubit gates can be realized by the simultaneous application of multiple two-qubit gates to a group of qubits where at least one qubit is involved in two or more of the two-qubit gates. Multiqubit gates implemented in this way are as fast as, or sometimes even faster than, the constituent two-qubit gates. Furthermore, these multiqubit gates do not require any modification of the quantum processor, but are ready to be used in current quantum-computing platforms. We demonstrate this idea for two specific cases: simultaneous controlled-Z gates and simultaneous iswap gates. We show how the resulting multiqubit gates relate to other well-known multiqubit gates and demonstrate through numerical simulations that they would work well in available quantum hardware, reaching gate fidelities well above 99%. We also present schemes for using these simultaneous two-qubit gates to swiftly create large entangled states like Dicke and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states
Blueprint for a microwave trapped ion quantum computer
The availability of a universal quantum computer may have a fundamental impact on a vast number of research fields and on society as a whole. An increasingly large scientific and industrial community is working toward the realization of such a device. An arbitrarily large quantum computer may best be constructed using a modular approach. We present a blueprint for a trapped ion–based scalable quantum computer module, making it possible to create a scalable quantum computer architecture based on long-wavelength radiation quantum gates. The modules control all operations as stand-alone units, are constructed using silicon microfabrication techniques, and are within reach of current technology. To perform the required quantum computations, the modules make use of long-wavelength radiation–based quantum gate technology. To scale this microwave quantum computer architecture to a large size, we present a fully scalable design that makes use of ion transport between different modules, thereby allowing arbitrarily many modules to be connected to construct a large-scale device. A high error–threshold surface error correction code can be implemented in the proposed architecture to execute fault-tolerant operations. With appropriate adjustments, the proposed modules are also suitable for alternative trapped ion quantum computer architectures, such as schemes using photonic interconnects
Quantum Computing
Quantum mechanics---the theory describing the fundamental workings of
nature---is famously counterintuitive: it predicts that a particle can be in
two places at the same time, and that two remote particles can be inextricably
and instantaneously linked. These predictions have been the topic of intense
metaphysical debate ever since the theory's inception early last century.
However, supreme predictive power combined with direct experimental observation
of some of these unusual phenomena leave little doubt as to its fundamental
correctness. In fact, without quantum mechanics we could not explain the
workings of a laser, nor indeed how a fridge magnet operates. Over the last
several decades quantum information science has emerged to seek answers to the
question: can we gain some advantage by storing, transmitting and processing
information encoded in systems that exhibit these unique quantum properties?
Today it is understood that the answer is yes. Many research groups around the
world are working towards one of the most ambitious goals humankind has ever
embarked upon: a quantum computer that promises to exponentially improve
computational power for particular tasks. A number of physical systems,
spanning much of modern physics, are being developed for this task---ranging
from single particles of light to superconducting circuits---and it is not yet
clear which, if any, will ultimately prove successful. Here we describe the
latest developments for each of the leading approaches and explain what the
major challenges are for the future.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, 291 references. Early draft of Nature 464, 45-53
(4 March 2010). Published version is more up-to-date and has several
corrections, but is half the length with far fewer reference
Quantum logic and entanglement by neutral Rydberg atoms: methods and fidelity
Quantum gates and entanglement based on dipole-dipole interactions of neutral
Rydberg atoms are relevant to both fundamental physics and quantum information
science. The precision and robustness of the Rydberg-mediated entanglement
protocols are the key factors limiting their applicability in experiments and
near-future industry. There are various methods for generating entangling gates
by exploring the Rydberg interactions of neutral atoms, each equipped with its
own strengths and weaknesses. The basics and tricks in these protocols are
reviewed, with specific attention paid to the achievable fidelity and the
robustness to the technical issues and detrimental innate factors.Comment: 57 pages, 10 figure
Assessing the Progress of Trapped-Ion Processors Towards Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation
A quantitative assessment of the progress of small prototype quantum processors towards fault-tolerant quantum computation is a problem of current interest in experimental and theoretical quantum information science. We introduce a necessary and fair criterion for quantum error correction (QEC), which must be achieved in the development of these quantum processors before their sizes are sufficiently big to consider the well-known QEC threshold. We apply this criterion to benchmark the ongoing effort in implementing QEC with topological color codes using trapped-ion quantum processors and, more importantly, to guide the future hardware developments that shall be required in order to demonstrate beneficial QEC with small topological quantum codes. In doing so, we present a thorough description of a realistic trapped-ion toolbox for QEC, and a physically-motivated error model that goes beyond standard simplifications in the QEC literature. We focus on laser-based quantum gates realised in two-species trapped-ion crystals in high-optical aperture segmented traps. Our large-scale numerical analysis shows that, with the foreseen technological improvements hereby described, this platform is a very promising candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computation
Ion-trap quantum information processing: experimental status
Atomic ions trapped in ultra-high vacuum form an especially well-understood
and useful physical system for quantum information processing. They provide
excellent shielding of quantum information from environmental noise, while
strong, well-controlled laser interactions readily provide quantum logic gates.
A number of basic quantum information protocols have been demonstrated with
trapped ions. Much current work aims at the construction of large-scale
ion-trap quantum computers using complex microfabricated trap arrays. Several
groups are also actively pursuing quantum interfacing of trapped ions with
photons.Comment: review article for Frontiers of Physics replace corrupted TeX fil
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