Spin-Orbit Coupling and Spin Textures in Optical Superlattices

We proposed and demonstrated a new approach for realizing spin orbit coupling with ultracold atoms. We use orbital levels in a double well potential as pseudospin states. Two-photon Raman transitions between left and right wells induce spin-orbit coupling. This scheme does not require near resonant light, features adjustable interactions by shaping the double well potential, and does not depend on special properties of the atoms. A pseudospinor Bose-Einstein condensate spontaneously acquires an antiferromagnetic pseudospin texture which breaks the lattice symmetry similar to a supersolid

Encoding optimization for quantum machine learning demonstrated on a superconducting transmon qutrit

Qutrits, three-level quantum systems, have the advantage of potentially requiring fewer components than the typically used two-level qubits to construct equivalent quantum circuits. This work investigates the potential of qutrit parametric circuits in machine learning classification applications. We propose and evaluate different data-encoding schemes for qutrits, and find that the classification accuracy varies significantly depending on the used encoding. We therefore propose a training method for encoding optimization that allows to consistently achieve high classification accuracy. Our theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the qutrit classifier can achieve high classification accuracy using fewer components than a comparable qubit system. We showcase the qutrit classification using the optimized encoding method on superconducting transmon qutrits, demonstrating the practicality of the proposed method on noisy hardware. Our work demonstrates high-precision ternary classification using fewer circuit elements, establishing qutrit parametric quantum circuits as a viable and efficient tool for quantum machine learning applications

Spin-orbit coupled Bose gases

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2019Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-151).Quantum simulation is a very active and growing field. Various quantum systems can be used to emulate existing materials in an accurate and controllable way, as well as to generate new states of matter that have not been found in the real world but the existence of which does not contradict the fundamental laws of physics. Ultracold atoms form a perfect system to realize idealized models and study physical mechanisms that stand out clearly in them. Recent efforts have been made to simulate artificial gauge fields with ultracold atoms, including spin-dependent gauge fields, such as spin-orbit coupling. Motivated by this goal our lab explored several approaches to generate a one-dimensional spinorbit coupling interaction, which has a rich phase diagram and plays an important role for topological insulators, the quantum spin Hall effect and spintronics.The first method we developed allowed us to detect a stripe phase by dressing Bose-Einstein condensates with an optical superlattice and Raman beams. The observed density modulation in the ground state meets the definition of the long-awaited supersolid state of matter. The second approach we took was to generate spin-orbit coupling without use of lasers. The method is based on the idea of periodic driving of the quantum system and dressing its evolution with fast micromotion, often refered to as Floquet engineering. Our experiment provided an insightful pedagogical example of what Floquet engineering is capable of. In the experiment we endowed a low energy radio-frequency photon with tunable momentum. When dressed with recoil momentum, the interaction of a radio-frequency photon with an atom occurred in a Doppler-sensitive way. We also demonstrated how to tune the momentum and flip its direction. In this thesis, I first describe the experiments done in the optical superlattice.Then I discuss the behavior of periodically driven classical and quantum systems and provide detailed analysis of how a radio-frequency photon can be magnetically dressed with tunable momentum. The experiments we carried out demonstrated novel methods of generation for spin-dependent gauge fields and showed pedagogical examples and interpretations of evolution of periodically driven systems. The scheme of periodically driven atoms inspired a theoretical study of heating in Floquet systems.by Boris Shteynas.Ph. D.Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physic

Floquet heating in interacting atomic gases with an oscillating force

© 2019 American Physical Society. We theoretically investigate the collisional heating of a cold atom system subjected to time-periodic forces. We show within the Floquet framework that this heating rate due to two-body collisions has a general semiclassical expression P ρσvcolE0, depending on the kinetic energy E0 associated with the shaking, particle number density ρ, elastic collision cross section σ, and an effective collisional velocity vcol determined by the dominant energy scale in the system. We further show that the collisional heating is suppressed by Pauli blocking in cold fermionic systems and by the modified density of states in systems in lower dimensions. Our results provide an exactly solvable example and reveal some general features of Floquet heating in interacting systems

How to Dress Radio-Frequency Photons with Tunable Momentum

© 2019 American Physical Society. We demonstrate how the combination of oscillating magnetic forces and radio-frequency (rf) pulses endows rf photons with tunable momentum. We observe velocity-selective spin-flip transitions and the associated Doppler shift. Recoil-dressed photons are a promising tool for measurements and quantum simulations, including the realization of gauge potentials and spin-orbit coupling schemes which do not involve optical transitions

High coherence and low cross-talk in a tileable 3D integrated superconducting circuit architecture

We report high qubit coherence as well as low cross-talk and single-qubit gate errors in a superconducting circuit architecture that promises to be tileable to two-dimensional (2D) lattices of qubits. The architecture integrates an inductively shunted cavity enclosure into a design featuring nongalvanic out-of-plane control wiring and qubits and resonators fabricated on opposing sides of a substrate. The proof-of-principle device features four uncoupled transmon qubits and exhibits average energy relaxation times T1 = 149(38) μs, pure echoed dephasing times Tφ,e = 189(34) μs, and single-qubit gate fidelities F = 99.982(4)% as measured by simultaneous randomized benchmarking. The 3D integrated nature of the control wiring means that qubits will remain addressable as the architecture is tiled to form larger qubit lattices. Band structure simulations are used to predict that the tiled enclosure will still provide a clean electromagnetic environment to enclosed qubits at arbitrary scale.</p