Appearance of Topological Phases in Superconducting Nanocircuits

We construct non-Abelian geometric transformations in superconducting nanocircuits, which resemble in properties the Aharonov-Bohm phase for an electron transported around a magnetic flux line. The effective magnetic fields can be strongly localized, and the path is traversed in the region where the energy separation between the states involved is at maximum, so that the adiabaticity condition is weakened. In particular, we present a scheme of topological charge pumping.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX4, References added, minor change

Quantum holonomies with Josephson-junction devices

We examined properties of a Josephson-junction system composed of two coupled Cooper-pair boxes (charge qubits) as a candidate for observation of quantum holonomies. We construct a universal set of transformations in a two-fold degenerate ground state, and discuss the effects of noise in the system.Comment: RevTeX4, 5 pages, 3 figures, minor changes requested by Phys. Rev.

Geometry of an adiabatic passage at a level crossing

We discuss adiabatic quantum phenomena at a level crossing. Given a path in the parameter space which passes through a degeneracy point, we find a criterion which determines whether the adiabaticity condition can be satisfied. For paths that can be traversed adiabatically we also derive a differential equation which specifies the time dependence of the system parameters, for which transitions between distinct energy levels can be neglected. We also generalize the well-known geometric connections to the case of adiabatic paths containing arbitrarily many level-crossing points and degenerate levels.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX4, changes requested by Phys. Rev.

Stabilized parametric Cooper-pair pumping in a linear array of coupled Josephson junctions

We present an experimentally realizable stabilized charge pumping scheme in a linear array of Cooper-pair boxes. The system design intrinsically protects the pumping mechanism from severe errors, especially current reversal and spontaneous charge excitation. The quantum Zeno effect is implemented to further diminish pumping errors. The characteristics of this scheme are considered from the perspective of improving the current standard. Such an improvement bears relevence to the closure of the so-called measurement triangle (see D. Averin [Nature 434, 285 (2005)]).Comment: Title changed, other corrections and modifications requested from Phys. Rev. Let

Preparation and manipulation of a fault-tolerant superconducting qubit

We describe a qubit encoded in continuous quantum variables of an rf superconducting quantum interference device. Since the number of accessible states in the system is infinite, we may protect its two-dimensional subspace from small errors introduced by the interaction with the environment and during manipulations. We show how to prepare the fault-tolerant state and manipulate the system. The discussed operations suffice to perform quantum computation on the encoded state, syndrome extraction, and quantum error correction. We also comment on the physical sources of errors and possible imperfections while manipulating the system.Comment: Typo corrected, title changed as suggested by the editors of Phys. Rev. B, references adde