306 research outputs found
Loops and Strings in a Superconducting Lattice Gauge Simulator
We propose an architecture for an analog quantum simulator of
electromagnetism in 2+1 dimensions, based on an array of superconducting
fluxonium devices. The encoding is in the integer (spin-1 representation of the
quantum link model formulation of compact U(1) lattice gauge theory. We show
how to engineer Gauss' law via an ancilla mediated gadget construction, and how
to tune between the strongly coupled and intermediately coupled regimes. The
witnesses to the existence of the predicted confining phase of the model are
provided by nonlocal order parameters from Wilson loops and disorder parameters
from 't Hooft strings. We show how to construct such operators in this model
and how to measure them nondestructively via dispersive coupling of the
fluxonium islands to a microwave cavity mode. Numerical evidence is found for
the existence of the confined phase in the ground state of the simulation
Hamiltonian on a ladder geometry.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Published versio
Optimizing Rydberg Gates for Logical Qubit Performance
Robust gate sequences are widely used to reduce the sensitivity of gate
operations to experimental imperfections. Typically, the optimization minimizes
the average gate error, however, recent work in quantum error correction has
demonstrated that the performance of encoded logical qubits is sensitive to not
only the average error rate, but also the type of errors that occur. Here, we
present a family of Rydberg blockade gates for neutral atom qubits that are
robust against two common, major imperfections: intensity inhomogeneity and
Doppler shifts. These gates outperform existing gates for moderate or large
imperfections. We also consider the logical performance of these gates in the
context of an erasure-biased qubit based on metastable Yb. In this
case, we observe that the robust gates outperform existing gates for even very
small values of the imperfections, because they maintain the native large bias
towards erasure errors for these qubits. These results significantly reduce the
laser stability and atomic temperature requirements to achieve fault-tolerant
quantum computing with neutral atoms. The approach of optimizing gates for
logical qubit performance may be applied to other qubit platforms.Comment: v3: Added discussion of AC-Stark shifts; v2: Updated reference
Compressibility, zero sound, and effective mass of a fermionic dipolar gas at finite temperature
The compressibility, zero sound dispersion, and effective mass of a gas of
fermionic dipolar molecules is calculated at finite temperature for one-, two-,
and three-dimensional uniform systems, and in a multilayer
quasi-two-dimensional system. The compressibility is nonmonotonic in the
reduced temperature, , exhibiting a maximum at finite temperature. This
effect might be visible in a quasi-low-dimensional experiment, providing a
clear signature of the onset of many-body quantum degeneracy effects. The
collective mode dispersion and effective mass show similar nontrivial
temperature and density dependence. In a quasi-low-dimensional system, the zero
sound mode may propagate at experimentally attainable temperatures.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures; substantially revised and expande
Engineering exotic phases for topologically-protected quantum computation by emulating quantum dimer models
We use a nonperturbative extended contractor renormalization (ENCORE) method
for engineering quantum devices for the implementation of topologically
protected quantum bits described by an effective quantum dimer model on the
triangular lattice. By tuning the couplings of the device, topological
protection might be achieved if the ratio between effective two-dimer
interactions and flip amplitudes lies in the liquid phase of the phase diagram
of the quantum dimer model. For a proposal based on a quantum Josephson
junction array [L. B. Ioffe {\it et al.}, Nature (London) {\bf 415}, 503
(2002)] our results show that optimal operational temperatures below 1 mK can
only be obtained if extra interactions and dimer flips, which are not present
in the standard quantum dimer model and involve three or four dimers, are
included. It is unclear if these extra terms in the quantum dimer Hamiltonian
destroy the liquid phase needed for quantum computation. Minimizing the effects
of multi-dimer terms would require energy scales in the nano-Kelvin regime. An
alternative implementation based on cold atomic or molecular gases loaded into
optical lattices is also discussed, and it is shown that the small energy
scales involved--implying long operational times--make such a device
impractical. Given the many orders of magnitude between bare couplings in
devices, and the topological gap, the realization of topological phases in
quantum devices requires careful engineering and large bare interaction scales.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Direct absorption imaging of ultracold polar molecules
We demonstrate a scheme for direct absorption imaging of an ultracold
ground-state polar molecular gas near quantum degeneracy. A challenge in
imaging molecules is the lack of closed optical cycling transitions. Our
technique relies on photon shot-noise limited absorption imaging on a strong
bound-bound molecular transition. We present a systematic characterization of
this imaging technique. Using this technique combined with time-of-flight (TOF)
expansion, we demonstrate the capability to determine momentum and spatial
distributions for the molecular gas. We anticipate that this imaging technique
will be a powerful tool for studying molecular quantum gases.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Effects of random localizing events on matter waves: formalism and examples
A formalism is introduced to describe a number of physical processes that may
break down the coherence of a matter wave over a characteristic length scale l.
In a second-quantized description, an appropriate master equation for a set of
bosonic "modes" (such as atoms in a lattice, in a tight-binding approximation)
is derived. Two kinds of "localizing processes" are discussed in some detail
and shown to lead to master equations of this general form: spontaneous
emission (more precisely, light scattering), and modulation by external random
potentials. Some of the dynamical consequences of these processes are
considered: in particular, it is shown that they generically lead to a damping
of the motion of the matter-wave currents, and may also cause a "flattening" of
the density distribution of a trapped condensate at rest.Comment: v3; a few corrections, especially in Sections IV and
Interlayer superfluidity in bilayer systems of fermionic polar molecules
We consider fermionic polar molecules in a bilayer geometry where they are
oriented perpendicularly to the layers, which permits both low inelastic losses
and superfluid pairing. The dipole-dipole interaction between molecules of
different layers leads to the emergence of interlayer superfluids. The
superfluid regimes range from BCS-like fermionic superfluidity with a high
to Bose-Einstein (quasi-)condensation of interlayer dimers, thus
exhibiting a peculiar BCS-BEC crossover. We show that one can cover the entire
crossover regime under current experimental conditions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Dispersion interactions and reactive collisions of ultracold polar molecules
Progress in ultracold experiments with polar molecules requires a clear
understanding of their interactions and reactivity at ultra-low collisional
energies. Two important theoretical steps in this process are the
characterization of interaction potentials between molecules and the modeling
of reactive scattering mechanism. Here, we report on the {\it abinitio}
calculation of isotropic and anisotropic van der Waals interaction potentials
for polar KRb and RbCs colliding with each other or with ultracold atoms. Based
on these potentials and two short-range scattering parameters we then develop a
single-channel scattering model with flexible boundary conditions. Our
calculations show that at low temperatures (and in absence of an external
electric field) the reaction rates between molecules or molecules with atoms
have a resonant character as a function of the short-range parameters. We also
find that both the isotropic and anisotropic van der Waals coefficients have
significant contributions from dipole coupling to excited electronic states.
Their values can differ dramatically from those solely obtained from the
permanent dipole moment. A comparison with recently obtained reaction rates of
fermionic KRb shows that the experimental data can not be
explained by a model where the short-range scattering parameters are
independent of the relative orbital angular momentum or partial wave.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure
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