Quantum computation and simulation with superconducting qubits

Superconducting circuits based on Josephson junctions are regarded as one of the most promising technologies for the implementation of scalable quantum computers. This review presents the basic principles of superconducting qubits and shows the progress of quantum computing and quantum simulation based on superconducting qubits in recent years.The experimental realization of gate operations, readout, error correction codes, as well as some quantum algorithms are summarized, followed by an introduction of quantum simulation. And then some important applications in fields including condensed matter physics, quantum annealing, and quantum chemistry are discussed.     

Mott insulator-superfluid phase transition in a detuned multi-connected Jaynes-Cummings lattice

The connectivity and tunability of superconducting quantum devices provide a rich platform to build quantum simulators and study novel many-body physics. Here we study quantum phase transition in a detuned multi-connected Jaynes-Cummings lattice, which can be constructed with superconducting circuits. This model is composed of alternatively connected qubits and cavity modes.Using a numerical method, we show that by varying the detuning between the qubits and the cavities, a phase transition from the superfluid phase to the Mott insulator phase occurs at commensurate fillings in a one-dimensional array. We study the phase transition in lattices with symmetric and asymmetric couplings, respectively.     

Characterization of topological phase of superlattices in superconducting circuits

The recent experimental observation of topological magnon insulator states in a superconducting circuit chain marks a breakthrough for topological physics with qubits, in which a dimerized qubit chain has been realized. Here, we extend such a dimer lattice to superlattice with arbitrary number of qubits in each unit cell in superconducting circuits, which exhibits rich topological properties. Specifically, by considering a quadrimeric superlattice, we show that the topological invariant (winding number) can be effectively characterized by the dynamics of the single-excitation quantum state through time-dependent quantities. Moreover, we explore the appearance and detection of the topological protected edge states in such a multiband qubit system. Finally, we also demonstrate the stable Bloch-like-oscillation of multiple interface states induced by the interference of them. Our proposal can be readily realized in experiment and may pave the way towards the investigation of topological quantum phases and topologically protected quantum information processing.     

Observation of high coherence in Josephson junction qubits measured in a three-dimensional circuit QED architecture

Superconducting quantum circuits based on Josephson junctions have made rapid progress in demonstrating quantum behavior and scalability. However, the future prospects ultimately depend upon the intrinsic coherence of Josephson junctions, and whether superconducting qubits can be adequately isolated from their environment. We introduce a new architecture for superconducting quantum circuits employing a three-dimensional resonator that suppresses qubit decoherence while maintaining sufficient coupling to the control signal. With the new architecture, we demonstrate that Josephson junction qubits are highly coherent, with T2 ～ 10 to 20 μs without the use of spin echo, and highly stable, showing no evidence for 1/f critical current noise. These results suggest that the overall quality of Josephson junctions in these qubits will allow error rates of a few 10(-4), approaching the error correction threshold.     

Nanoscale superconducting quantum bits

Various physical systems were proposed for quantum information processing. Among those nanoscale devices appear most promising for integration in electronic circuits and large-scale applications. We discuss Josephson junction circuits in two regimes where they can be used for quantum computing. These systems combine intrinsic coherence of the superconducting state with control possibilities of single-charge circuits. In the regime where the typical charging energy dominates over the Josephson coupling, the low-temperature dynamics is limited to two states differing by a Cooper-pair charge on a superconducting island. In the opposite regime of prevailing Josephson energy, the phase (or flux) degree of freedom can be used to store and process quantum information. Under suitable conditions the system reduces to two states with different flux configurations. Several qubits can be joined together into a register. The quantum state of a qubit register can be manipulated by voltage and magnetic field pulses. The qubits are inevitably coupled to the environment. However, estimates of the phase coherence time show that many elementary quantum logic operations can be performed before the phase coherence is lost. In addition to manipulations, the final state of the qubits has to be read out. This quantum measurement process can be accomplished using a single-electron transistor for charge Josephson qubits, and a d.c.-SQUID for flux qubits. Recent successful experiments with superconducting qubits demonstrate for the first time quantum coherence in macroscopic systems.     

Many-body quantum electrodynamics networks: Non-equilibrium condensed matter physics with light

We review recent developments regarding the quantum dynamics and many-body physics with light, in superconducting circuits and Josephson analogues, by analogy with atomic physics. We start with quantum impurity models addressing dissipative and driven systems. Both theorists and experimentalists are making efforts towards the characterization of these non-equilibrium quantum systems. We show how Josephson junction systems can implement the equivalent of the Kondo effect with microwave photons. The Kondo effect can be characterized by a renormalized light frequency and a peak in the Rayleigh elastic transmission of a photon. We also address the physics of hybrid systems comprising mesoscopic quantum dot devices coupled with an electromagnetic resonator. Then, we discuss extensions to Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) Networks allowing one to engineer the Jaynes–Cummings lattice and Rabi lattice models through the presence of superconducting qubits in the cavities. This opens the door to novel many-body physics with light out of equilibrium, in relation with the Mott–superfluid transition observed with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. Then, we summarize recent theoretical predictions for realizing topological phases with light. Synthetic gauge fields and spin–orbit couplings have been successfully implemented in quantum materials and with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices — using time-dependent Floquet perturbations periodic in time, for example — as well as in photonic lattice systems. Finally, we discuss the Josephson effect related to Bose–Hubbard models in ladder and two-dimensional geometries, producing phase coherence and Meissner currents. The Bose–Hubbard model is related to the Jaynes–Cummings lattice model in the large detuning limit between light and matter (the superconducting qubits). In the presence of synthetic gauge fields, we show that Meissner currents subsist in an insulating Mott phase.     

Hard-core Hall tube in superconducting circuits

The Hall tube as a minimum model to simulate the integer quantum Hall effect is essential for exploring topological physics, while it has not been constructed in the recent developing successfully experiments on superconducting circuits. In this work, we propose a feasible experiment scheme using three legs superconducting circuits with transmon qubits to realize a Hall tube. Then we first investigate its topological properties. Since the time-reversal, particle-hole, and chiral symmetries are all broken for the system, the Hall tube belongs to the A class of the Altland-Zirnbauer classification. We obtain the corresponding topological phase transition both numerically and analytically. Since the chirality is a key character of the quantum Hall effect, we secondly investigate the chiral physics in the Hall tube. We find the topological protected chiral edge currents and discuss its robustness. Finally, we give the possible experimental observations of the topological state and topological protected chiral edge currents.     

Distributed quantum computation with superconducting qubit via LC circuit using dressed states

A scheme is proposed where two superconducting qubits driven by a classical field interacting separately with two distant LC circuits connected by another LC circuit through mutual inductance,are used for implementing quantum gates.By using dressed states,quantum state transfer and quantum entangling gate can be implemented.With the help of the time-dependent electromagnetic field,any two dressed qubits can be selectively coupled to the data bus (the last LC circuit),then quantum state can be transferred from one dressed qubit to another and multi-mode entangled state can also be formed.As a result,the promising perspectives for quantum information processing of mesoscopic superconducting qubits are obtained and the distributed and scalable quantum computation can be implemented in this scheme.     

Impedance measurement technique for quantum systems

The impedance measurement technique consists in that the phase-dependent (parametric) inductance of the system is probed by the classical tank circuit via measuring the voltage. The notion of the parametric inductance for the impedance measurement technique is revisited for the case when a quantum system is probed. Measurement of the quantum state of the system of superconducting circuits (qubits) is studied theoretically. It is shown that the result of the measurement is defined by the partial energy levels population in the qubits and by its derivative.     

Universal quantum control based on parametric modulation in superconducting circuits

As superconducting quantum circuits are scaling up rapidly towards the noisy intermediate-scale quantum(NISQ)era, the demand for electronic control equipment has increased significantly. To fully control a quantum chip of N qubits,the common method based on up-conversion technology costs at least 2 × N digital-to-analog converters(DACs) and N IQ mixers. The expenses and complicate mixer calibration have become a hinderance for intermediate-scale quantum control.Here we propose a universal control scheme for superconducting circuits, fully based on parametric modulation. To control N qubits on a chip, our scheme only requires N DACs and no IQ mixer, which significantly reduces the expenses. One key idea in the control scheme is to introduce a global pump signal for single-qubit gates. We theoretically explain how the universal gates are constructed using parametric modulation. The fidelity analysis shows that parametric single-qubit(two-qubit) gates in the proposed scheme can achieve low error rates of 10~(4), with a gate time of about 60 ns(100 ns).     

Generation and control of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entanglement in superconducting circuits

Going beyond the entanglement of microscopic objects (such as photons, spins, and ions), here we propose an efficient approach to produce and control the quantum entanglement of three macroscopic coupled superconducting qubits. By conditionally rotating, one by one, selected Josephson-charge qubits, we show that their Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) entangled states can be deterministically generated. The existence of GHZ correlations between these qubits could be experimentally demonstrated by effective single-qubit operations followed by high-fidelity single-shot readouts. The possibility of using the prepared GHZ correlations to test the macroscopic conflict between the noncommutativity of quantum mechanics and the commutativity of classical physics is also discussed.     

Modulation of entanglement and quantum discord for circuit cavity QED states

The paper investigates the dynamic evolution behaviors of entanglement and quantum discord of coupled superconducting qubits in circuit QED system. We put emphasis on the effects of cavity field quantum state on quantum entanglement and quantum correlations dynamic behaviors of coupling superconducting qubits. The results show that, (1) generally speaking, the entanglement will appear the death and new birth because of the interaction between qubits and cavity field, on the contrary, this phenomenon will not appear in quantum discord. (2) When the cavity field is in coherent state, the entanglement survival time is controlled by the average photon number. The more the average photon number is, the longer survival time of entanglement is prolonged. Thus it has the benefit of keeping quantum correlations. (3) When the cavity field is in squeezed state, the squeezed amplitude parameters have controlling effects on quantum correlations including entanglement and quantum discord. On the one hand, the increase of squeezed amplitude parameters can prolong the survival time of entanglement, on the other hand, with the increase of squeezed amplitude parameters, the robustness of quantum discord is more and more superior to concurrence and is more advantage to keep the system quantum correlations. The further study results show that the increase of the initial relative phase of coupling superconducting qubits can also keep the quantum correlations.     

Programmable quantum processor implemented with superconducting circuit

A quantum processor might execute certain computational tasks exponentially faster than a classical processor. Here, using superconducting quantum circuits we design a powerful universal quantum processor with the structure of symmetric all-to-all capacitive connection. We present the Hamiltonian and use it to demonstrate a full set of qubit operations needed in the programmable universal quantum computations. With the device the unwanted crosstalk and ZZ-type couplings between qubits can be effectively suppressed by tuning gate voltages, and the design allows efficient and high-quality couplings of qubits. Within available technology,the scheme may enable a practical programmable universal quantum computer.     

基于超导量子比特的电磁感应透明研究进展

超导量子计算是目前被认为最有希望实现量子计算机的方案之一. 超导量子比特是超导量子计算的核心部件. 如何尽可能的增加超导量子比特的退相干时间, 大规模的集成超导量子比特已成为超导量子计算研究的主要方向. 超导量子比特作为宏观的人工原子, 有许多量子光学现象都能够在其中观测到. 利用超导量子比特实现电磁感应透明为研究超导量子比特的退相干机理提供了新手段, 为研究非线性光学、光存储、光的超慢速传输等量子光学效应开辟了新思路. 本文介绍了电磁感应透明的理论基础, 总结了目前针对超导量子比特的电磁感应透明研究进展, 对比了一般气体原子与超导量子比特的电磁感应透明区别, 并对超导量子比特实现电磁感应透明的潜在应用进行了总结和展望.     

Fast quantum state transfer and entanglement for cavity-coupled many qubits via dark pathways

Quantum state transfer (QST) and entangled state generation (ESG) are important building blocks for modern quantum information processing. To achieve these tasks, convention wisdom is to consult the quantum adiabatic evolution, which is time-consuming, and thus is of low fidelity. Here, using the shortcut to adiabaticity technique, we propose a general method to realize high-fidelity fast QST and ESG in a cavity-coupled many qubits system via its dark pathways, which can be further designed for high-fidelity quantum tasks with different optimization purpose. Specifically, with a proper dark pathway, QST and ESG between any two qubits can be achieved without decoupling the others, which simplifies experimental demonstrations. Meanwhile, ESG among all qubits can also be realized in a single step. In addition, our scheme can be implemented in many quantum systems, and we illustrate its implementation on superconducting quantum circuits. Therefore, we propose a powerful strategy for selective quantum manipulation, which is promising in cavity coupled quantum systems and could find many convenient applications in quantum information processing.     

Deterministic entanglement of photons in two superconducting microwave resonators

Quantum entanglement, one of the defining features of quantum mechanics, has been demonstrated in a variety of nonlinear spinlike systems. Quantum entanglement in linear systems has proven significantly more challenging, as the intrinsic energy level degeneracy associated with linearity makes quantum control more difficult. Here we demonstrate the quantum entanglement of photon states in two independent linear microwave resonators, creating N-photon NOON states (entangled states |N0> + |0N>) as a benchmark demonstration. We use a superconducting quantum circuit that includes Josephson qubits to control and measure the two resonators, and we completely characterize the entangled states with bipartite Wigner tomography. These results demonstrate a significant advance in the quantum control of linear resonators in superconducting circuits.     

Transfer of quantum entangled states between superconducting qubits and microwave field qubits

Transferring entangled states between matter qubits and microwave-field (or optical-field) qubits is of fundamental interest in quantum mechanics and necessary in hybrid quantum information processing and quantum communication. We here propose a way for transferring entangled states between superconducting qubits (matter qubits) and microwave-field qubits. This proposal is realized by a system consisting of multiple superconducting qutrits and microwave cavities. Here, „qutrit” refers to a three-level quantum system with the two lowest levels encoding a qubit while the third level acting as an auxiliary state. In contrast, the microwave-field qubits are encoded with coherent states of microwave cavities. Because the third energy level of each qutrit is not populated during the operation, decoherence from the higher energy levels is greatly suppressed. The entangled states can be deterministically transferred because measurement on the states is not needed. The operation time is independent of the number of superconducting qubits or microwave-field qubits. In addition, the architecture of the circuit system is quite simple because only a coupler qutrit and an auxiliary cavity are required. As an example, our numerical simulations show that high-fidelity transfer of entangled states from two superconducting qubits to two microwave-field qubits is feasible with present circuit QED technology. This proposal is quite general and can be extended to transfer entangled states between other matter qubits (e.g., atoms, quantum dots, and NV centers) and microwave- or optical-field qubits encoded with coherent states.     

Non-Classical Correlations and Transfer of Quantum Information in a Superconducting Qubit System with Dynamical Decoupling Pulses

We investigate the dynamics of non-classical correlations(entanglement and quantum discord) of the system consisting of two non-interacting superconducting qubits coupling with a common data bus, where the system is driven by the dynamical decoupling pulses. It is found that the non-classical correlations between two superconducting qubits can be increased by appling a train of dynamical decoupling pulses. Furthermore, we also explore the influence of the dynamical decoupling pulses on the information flowing between superconducting qubits and data bus by making use of the trace distance. It is shown that the dynamical decoupling pulses can protect quantum information of two superconducting qubits and force information to flow back to the superconducting qubits from the data bus.

     

Preparation of multi-photon Fock states and quantum entanglement properties in circuit QED

We demonstrate the controllable generation of multi-photon Fock states in circuit quantum electrodynamics （circuit QED）. The external bias flux regulated by a counter can effectively adjust the bias time on each superconducting flux qubit so that each flux qubit can pass in turn through the circuit cavity and thereby avoid the effect of decoherence. We further investigate the quantum correlation dynamics of coupling superconducting qubits in a Fock state. The results reveal that the lower the photon number of the light field in the number state, the stronger the interaction between qubits is, then the more beneficial to maintaining entanglement between qubits it will be.