Quantum chemistry and charge transport in biomolecules with superconducting circuits

  1. L. García-Álvarez,
  2. U. Las Heras,
  3. A. Mezzacapo,
  4. M. Sanz,
  5. E. Solano,
  6. and L. Lamata
We propose an efficient protocol for digital quantum simulation of quantum chemistry problems and enhanced digital-analog quantum simulation of transport phenomena in biomolecules with
superconducting circuits. Along these lines, we prove that fermionic models of molecular structure can be optimally digitalized with single-qubit and two-qubit gates, by means of Trotter-Suzuki decomposition and Jordan-Wigner transformation. Furthermore, we address the modelling of system-environment interactions of biomolecules involving bosonic degrees of freedom with a digital-analog approach. Finally, we consider gate-truncated quantum algorithms to allow the study of environmental effects.

Quantum Simulation of Spin Chains Coupled to Bosonic Modes with Superconducting Circuits

  1. U. Las Heras,
  2. L. García-Álvarez,
  3. A. Mezzacapo,
  4. E. Solano,
  5. and L. Lamata
We propose the implementation of a digital quantum simulation of spin chains coupled to bosonic field modes in superconducting circuits. Gates with high fidelities allows one to simulate
a variety of Ising magnetic pairing interactions with transverse field, Tavis-Cummings interaction between spins and a bosonic mode, and a spin model with three-body terms. We analyze the feasibility of the implementation in realistic circuit quantum electrodynamics setups, where the interactions are either realized via capacitive couplings or mediated by microwave resonators.

Digital quantum simulation of fermionic models with a superconducting circuit

  1. R. Barends,
  2. L. Lamata,
  3. J. Kelly,
  4. L. García-Álvarez,
  5. A. G. Fowler,
  6. A. Megrant,
  7. E. Jeffrey,
  8. T. C. White,
  9. D. Sank,
  10. J. Y. Mutus,
  11. B. Campbell,
  12. Yu Chen,
  13. Z. Chen,
  14. B. Chiaro,
  15. A. Dunsworth,
  16. I.-C. Hoi,
  17. C. Neill,
  18. P. J. J. O'Malley,
  19. C. Quintana,
  20. P. Roushan,
  21. A. Vainsencher,
  22. J. Wenner,
  23. E. Solano,
  24. and John M. Martinis
Simulating quantum physics with a device which itself is quantum mechanical, a notion Richard Feynman originated, would be an unparallelled computational resource. However, the universal
quantum simulation of fermionic systems is daunting due to their particle statistics, and Feynman left as an open question whether it could be done, because of the need for non-local control. Here, we implement fermionic interactions with digital techniques in a superconducting circuit. Focusing on the Hubbard model, we perform time evolution with constant interactions as well as a dynamic phase transition with up to four fermionic modes encoded in four qubits. The implemented digital approach is universal and allows for the efficient simulation of fermions in arbitrary spatial dimensions. We use in excess of 300 single-qubit and two-qubit gates, and reach global fidelities which are limited by gate errors. This demonstration highlights the feasibility of the digital approach and opens a viable route towards analog-digital quantum simulation of interacting fermions and bosons in large-scale solid state systems.

Ultrastrong coupling in two-resonator circuit QED

  1. A. Baust,
  2. E. Hoffmann,
  3. M. Haeberlein,
  4. M. J. Schwarz,
  5. P. Eder,
  6. J. Goetz,
  7. F. Wulschner,
  8. E. Xie,
  9. L. Zhong,
  10. F. Quijandria,
  11. D. Zueco,
  12. J.J. García-Ripoll,
  13. L. Garcia-Alvarez,
  14. G. Romero,
  15. E. Solano,
  16. K. G. Fedorov,
  17. E. P. Menzel,
  18. F. Deppe,
  19. A. Marx,
  20. and R. Gross
We report on ultrastrong coupling between a superconducting flux qubit and a resonant mode of a system comprised of two superconducting coplanar stripline resonators coupled galvanically
to the qubit. With a coupling strength as high as 17% of the mode frequency, exceeding that of previous circuit quantum electrodynamics experiments, we observe a pronounced Bloch-Siegert shift. The spectroscopic response of our multimode system reveals a clear breakdown of the Jaynes-Cummings model. In contrast to earlier experiments, the high coupling strength is achieved without making use of an additional inductance provided by a Josephson junction.

Fermionic Models with Superconducting Circuits

  1. U. Las Heras,
  2. L. García-Álvarez,
  3. A. Mezzacapo,
  4. E. Solano,
  5. and L. Lamata
We propose a method for the efficient quantum simulation of fermionic systems with superconducting circuits. It consists in the suitable use of Jordan-Wigner mapping, Trotter decomposition,
and multiqubit gates, be with the use of a quantum bus or direct capacitive couplings. We apply our method to the paradigmatic cases of 1D and 2D Fermi-Hubbard models, involving couplings with nearest and next-nearest neighbours. Furthermore, we propose an optimal architecture for this model and discuss the benchmarking of the simulations in realistic circuit quantum electrodynamics setups.

Fermion-fermion scattering with superconducting circuits

  1. L. García-Álvarez,
  2. J. Casanova,
  3. A. Mezzacapo,
  4. I. L. Egusquiza,
  5. L. Lamata,
  6. G. Romero,
  7. and E. Solano
Quantum field theories (QFTs) are among the deepest descriptions of nature. In this sense, different computing approaches have been developed, as Feynman diagrams or lattice gauge theories.
In general, the numerical simulations of QFTs are computationally hard, with the processing time growing exponentially with the system size. Nevertheless, a quantum simulator could provide an efficient way to emulate these theories in polynomial time. Here, we propose the quantum simulation of fermionic field modes interacting via a continuum of bosonic modes with superconducting circuits, which are among the most advanced quantum technologies in terms of quantum control and scalability. An important feature of superconducting devices is that, unlike other quantum platforms, they offer naturally a strong coupling of qubits to a continuum of bosonic modes. Therefore, this system is a specially suited platform to realize quantum simulations of scattering processes involving interacting fermionic and bosonic quantum field theories, where access to the continuum of modes is required.