Quantum computing is currently hindered by hardware noise. We present a freestyle superconducting pulse optimization method, incorporating two-qubit channels, which enhances flexibility,execution speed, and noise resilience. A minimal 0.22 ns pulse is shown to determine the H2 groundstate to within chemical accuracy upon real-hardware, approaching the quantum speed limit. Similarly, a pulse significantly shorter than circuit-based counterparts is found for the LiH molecule, attaining state-of-the-art accuracy. The method is general and can potentially accelerate performance across various quantum computing components and hardware.
Microwave photonics is a remarkably powerful system for quantum simulation and technologies, but its integration in superconducting circuits, superior in many aspects, is constrainedby the long wavelengths and impedance mismatches in this platform. We introduce a solution to these difficulties via compact networks of high-kinetic inductance microstrip waveguides and coupling wires with strongly reduced phase velocities. We demonstrate broadband capabilities for superconducting microwave photonics in terms of routing, emulation and generalized linear and nonlinear networks.
The core concept of quantum simulation is the mapping of an inaccessible quantum system onto a controllable one by identifying analogous dynamics. We map the Dirac equation of relativisticquantum mechanics in 3+1 dimensions onto a multi-level superconducting Josephson circuit. Resonant drives determine the particle mass and momentum and the quantum state represents the internal spinor dynamics, which are cast in the language of multi-level quantum optics. The degeneracy of the Dirac spectrum corresponds to a degeneracy of bright/dark states within the system and particle spin and helicity are employed to interpret the multi-level dynamics. We simulate the Schwinger mechanism of electron-positron pair production by introducing an analogous electric field as a doubly degenerate Landau-Zener problem. All proposed measurements can be performed well within typical decoherence times. This work opens a new avenue for experimental study of the Dirac equation and provides a tool for control of complex dynamics in multi-level systems.
Atomic sized two-level systems (TLSs) in dielectrics are known as a major source of loss in superconducting devices, particularly due to frequency noise. However, the induced frequencyshifts on the devices, even by far off-resonance TLSs, is often suppressed by symmetry when standard single-tone spectroscopy is used. We introduce a two-tone spectroscopy on the normal modes of a pair of coupled superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators to uncover this effect by asymmetric saturation. Together with an appropriate generalized saturation model this enables us to extract the average single-photon Rabi frequency of dominant TLSs to be Ω0/2π≈79 kHz. At high photon numbers we observe an enhanced sensitivity to nonlinear kinetic inductance when using the two-tone method and estimate the value of the Kerr coefficient as K/2π≈−1×10−4 Hz/photon. Furthermore, the life-time of each resonance can be controlled (increased) by pumping of the other mode as demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically.
Multiple bosons undergoing coherent evolution in a coupled network of sites constitute a so-called quantum walk system. The simplest example of such a two-particle interference is thecelebrated Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. When scaling to larger boson numbers, simulating the exact distribution of bosons has been shown, under reasonable assumptions, to be exponentially hard. We analyze the feasibility and expected performance of a globally connected superconducting resonator based quantum walk system, using the known characteristics of state-of-the-art components. We simulate the sensitivity of such a system to decay processes and to perturbations and compare with coherent input states.
The analysis of wave-packet dynamics may be greatly simplified when viewed in
phase-space. While harmonic oscillators are often used as a convenient platform
to study wave-packets,arbitrary state preparation in these systems is more
challenging. Here, we demonstrate a direct measurement of the Wigner
distribution of complex photon states in an anharmonic oscillator – a
superconducting phase circuit, biased in the small anharmonicity regime. We
test our method on both non-classical states composed of two energy eigenstates
and on the dynamics of a phase-locked wavepacket. This method requires a simple
calibration, and is easily applicable in our system out to the fifth level.