Spin chains with symmetry-protected edge modes are promising candidates to realize intrinsically robust physical qubits that can be used for the storage and processing of quantum information. In any experimental realization of such physical systems, weak perturbations in the form of induced interactions and disorder are unavoidable and can be detrimental to the stored information. At the same time, the latter may in fact be beneficial; for instance by deliberately inducing disorder which causes the system to localize. In this work, we explore the potential of using an $XZX$ cluster Hamiltonian to encode quantum information into the local edge modes and comprehensively investigate the influence of both many-body interactions and disorder on their stability over time, adding substance to the narrative that many-body localization may stabilize quantum information. We recover the edge state at each time step, allowing us to reconstruct the quantum channel that captures the locally constrained out of equilibrium time evolution. With this representation in hand, we analyze how well classical and quantum information are preserved over time as a function of disorder and interactions. We find that the performance of the edge qubits varies dramatically between disorder realizations. Whereas some show a smooth decoherence over time, a sizeable fraction are rapidly rendered unusable as memories. We also find that the stability of the classical information -- a precursor for the usefulness of the chain as a quantum memory -- depends strongly on the direction in which the bit is encoded. When employing the chain as a genuine quantum memory, encoded qubits are most faithfully recovered for low interaction and high disorder.
A self-correcting quantum memory can store and protect quantum information for a time that increases without bound with the system size and without the need for active error correction. We demonstrate that symmetry can lead to self-correction in 3D spin-lattice models. In particular, we investigate codes given by 2D symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases that appear naturally on the boundary of 3D symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. We find that while conventional on-site symmetries are not sufficient to allow for self-correction in commuting Hamiltonian models of this form, a gen…
Strongly correlated quantum systems can exhibit exotic behavior called topological order which is characterized by non-local correlations that depend on the system topology. Such systems can exhibit remarkable phenomena such as quasi-particles with anyonic statistics and have been proposed as candidates for naturally fault-tolerant quantum computation. Despite these remarkable properties, anyons have never been observed in nature directly. Here we describe how to unambiguously detect and characterize such states in recently proposed spin lattice realizations using ultra-cold atoms or molecules…
Quantum information processed in strongly correlated states of matter can provide built in hardware protection against errors. We may encode information in highly non local degrees of freedom, such as using three dimensional spin lattices for subsystem codes or two dimensional spin lattices for topologically ordered surface codes and measurement based codes. Recently, in [L. Jiang et al., Nature Physics {\bf 4}, 482 (2008)] the authors showed how to manipulate these global degrees of freedom using optical lattices coupled to a bosonic degree of freedom via a cavity. We elaborate on these ideas…
Floquet symmetry protected topological (FSPT) phases are non-equilibrium topological phases enabled by time-periodic driving. FSPT phases of 1d chains of bosons, spins, or qubits host dynamically protected edge states that can store quantum information without decoherence, making them promising for use as quantum memories. While FSPT order cannot be detected by any local measurement, here we construct non-local string order parameters that directly measure general 1d FSPT order. We propose a superconducting-qubit array based realization of the simplest Ising-FSPT, which can be implemented with…
A local Hamiltonian with Topological Quantum Order (TQO) has a robust ground state degeneracy that makes it an excellent quantum memory candidate. This memory can be corrupted however if part of the state leaves the protected ground state manifold and returns later with a dynamically accrued phase error. Here we analyse how TQO suppresses this process and use this to quantify the degree to which spectral densities in different topological sectors are correlated. We provide numerical verification of our results by modelling an interacting p-wave superconducting wire.
Quantum systems are affected by interactions with their environments, causing decoherence through two processes: pure dephasing and energy relaxation. For quantum information processing it is important to increase the coherence time of Josephson qubits and other artificial two-level atoms. We show theoretically that if the coupling between these qubits and a cavity field is longitudinal and in the ultrastrong-coupling regime, the system is strongly protected against relaxation. Vice versa, if the coupling is transverse and in the ultrastrong-coupling regime, the system is protected against pur…
Implementing precise operations on quantum systems is one of the biggest challenges for building quantum devices in a noisy environment. Dynamical decoupling (DD) attenuates the destructive effect of the environmental noise, but so far it has been used primarily in the context of quantum memories. Here, we present a general scheme for combining DD with quantum logical gate operations and demonstrate its performance on the example of an electron spin qubit of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We achieve process fidelities >98% for gate times that are 2 orders of magnitude longer than…
Electrons confined in Si quantum dots possess orbital, spin, and valley degrees of freedom (d.o.f.). We perform Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg-Majorana (LZSM) interferometry on a Si double quantum dot that is strongly coupled to a microwave cavity to probe the valley d.o.f. The resulting LZSM interference pattern is asymmetric as a function of level detuning and persists for drive periods that are much longer than typical charge decoherence times. By correlating the LZSM interference pattern with charge noise measurements, we show that valley-orbit hybridization provides some protection from the del…
High fidelity quantum information processing requires a combination of fast gates and long-lived quantum memories. In this work, we propose a hybrid architecture, where a parity-protected superconducting qubit is directly coupled to a Majorana qubit, which plays the role of a quantum memory. The superconducting qubit is based upon a $π$-periodic Josephson junction realized with gate-tunable semiconducting wires, where the tunneling of individual Cooper pairs is suppressed. One of the wires additionally contains four Majorana zero modes that define a qubit. We demonstrate that this enables the …
Whether self correcting quantum memories can exist at non-zero temperature in a physically reasonable setting remains a great open problem. It has recently been argued [1] that symmetry protected topological (SPT) systems in three space dimensions subject to a strong constraint -- that the quantum dynamics respect a 1-form symmetry -- realize such a quantum memory. We illustrate how this works in Walker-Wang codes, which provide a specific realization of these desiderata. In this setting we show that it is sufficient for the 1-form symmetry to be enforced on a sub-volume of the system which is…
Rapidly developing experiments across multiple platforms now aim to realise small quantum codes, and so demonstrate a memory within which a logical qubit can be protected from noise. There is a need to benchmark the achievements in these diverse systems, and to compare the inherent power of the codes they rely upon. We describe a recently-introduced performance measure called integrity, which relates to the probability that an ideal agent will successfully 'guess' the state of a logical qubit after a period of storage in the memory. Integrity is straightforward to evaluate experimentally witho…
We propose a new protected logic qubit called pokemon, which is derived from the 0-$π$ qubit by harnessing one capacitively shunted inductor and two capacitively shunted Josephson junctions embedded in a superconducting loop. Similar to the 0-$π$ qubit, the two basis states of the proposed qubit are separated by a high barrier, but their wave functions are highly localized along both axis directions of the two-dimensional parameter space, instead of the highly localized wave functions along only one axis direction in the 0-$π$ qubit. This makes the pokemon qubit more protected. For instance, t…
The long-lived, efficient storage and retrieval of a qubit encoded on a photon is an important ingredient for future quantum networks. Although systems with intrinsically long coherence times have been demonstrated, the combination with an efficient light-matter interface remains an outstanding challenge. In fact, the coherence times of memories for photonic qubits are currently limited to a few milliseconds. Here we report on a qubit memory based on a single atom coupled to a high-finesse optical resonator. By mapping and remapping the qubit between a basis used for light-matter interfacing a…
Ensembles of solid-state optical emitters enable broadband quantum storage and transduction of photonic qubits, with applications in high-rate optical quantum networks for secure communications, global time-keeping, and interconnecting future quantum computers. To realize coherent quantum information transfer using ensembles, spin rephasing techniques are currently used to mitigate fast decoherence resulting from inhomogeneous broadening. Here we use a dense ensemble of neodymium rare-earth ions strongly coupled to a nanophotonic resonator to demonstrate that decoherence of a single photon exc…
Recently there have been numerous proposals to create Majorana zero modes in solid state heterojunctions, superconducting wires and optical lattices. Putatively the information stored in qubits constructed from these modes is protected from various forms of decoherence. Here we show that this is not the case. We present a generic method to study the effect of external perturbations on these modes. We focus on the case where there are no interactions between different Majorana modes either directly or through intermediary fermions. To quantify the rate of loss of the information stored in the M…
One of the most striking features of quantum mechanics is the appearance of phases of matter with topological origins. These phases result in remarkably robust macroscopic phenomena such as the edge modes in integer quantum Hall systems, the gapless surface states of topological insulators, and elementary excitations with non-abelian statistics in fractional quantum Hall systems and topological superconductors. Many of these states hold promise in the applications to quantum memories and quantum computation. Artificial quantum systems, with their precise controllability, provide a versatile pl…
Dissipative Time Crystals as Passively Protected Oscillating Qubits
Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford（牛津大学克拉伦登实验室）；Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, LPTMS（巴黎萨克雷大学，法国国家科学研究中心，理论物理实验室）；Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所）
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München（慕尼黑大学）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST)（慕尼黑量子科学与技术中心）；Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics（马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所）
Hybrid matter-photon entanglement is the building block for quantum networks. It is very favorable if the entanglement can be prepared with a high probability. In this paper, we report the deterministic creation of entanglement between an atomic ensemble and a single photon by harnessing Rydberg blockade. We design a scheme that creates entanglement between a single photon's temporal modes and the Rydberg levels that host a collective excitation, using a process of cyclical retrieving and patching. The hybrid entanglement is tested via retrieving the atomic excitation as a second photon and pe…
Topological insulators possess protected boundary states which are robust against disorders and have immense implications in both fermionic and bosonic systems. Harnessing these topological effects in non-equilibrium scenarios is highly desirable and has led to the development of topological lasers. The topologically protected boundary states usually lie within the bulk bandgap, and selectively exciting them without inducing instability in the bulk modes of bosonic systems is challenging. Here, we consider topological parametrically driven nonlinear resonator arrays that possess complex eigenv…
To implement fault-tolerant quantum computation with continuous variables, the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) qubit has been recognized as an important technological element. However,it is still challenging to experimentally generate the GKP qubit with the required squeezing level, 14.8 dB, of the existing fault-tolerant quantum computation. To reduce this requirement, we propose a high-threshold fault-tolerant quantum computation with GKP qubits using topologically protected measurement-based quantum computation with the surface code. By harnessing analog information contained in the GKP qub…
Spin echo is a powerful technique to extend atomic or nuclear coherence time by overcoming the dephasing due to inhomogeneous broadening. However, applying this technique to an ensemble-based quantum memory at single-quanta level remains challenging. In our experimental study we find that noise due to imperfection of the rephasing pulses is highly directional. By properly arranging the beam directions and optimizing the pulse fidelities, we have successfully managed to operate the spin echo technique in the quantum regime and observed nonclassical photon-photon correlations. In comparison to t…
Distribution of light-matter quantum correlations with a temporally multiplexed solid-state quantum memory array
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology（ICFO-光子科学研究所，巴塞罗那科技研究所）；ICREA, Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats（ICREA，加泰罗尼亚研究与高级研究学院）
Ensembles of electron spins in hybrid microwave systems are powerful and versatile components for future quantum technologies. Quantum memories with high storage capacities are one such example which require long-lived states that can be addressed and manipulated coherently within the inhomogeneously broadened ensemble. This broadening is essential for true multimode memories, but induces a considerable spin dephasing and together with dissipation from a cavity interface poses a constraint on the memory's storage time. In this work we show how to overcome both of these limitations through the …
Topological quantum memories in two dimensions are not thermally stable, since once a quasiparticle excitation is created, it will delocalise at no energy cost. This places an upper bound on the lifetime of quantum information stored in them. We address this issue for a topological subsystem code introduced in [Bravyi S. et al., Quant.Inf.Comp.13(11):0963]. By frequently measuring the gauge operators of the code, a technique known as Operator Quantum Zeno Effect [Li Y. et al, preprint arXiv:1305.2464], the dynamics responsible for quasiparticle motion is suppressed, and can eventually be "froz…
Quantized Hall drift in a frequency-encoded photonic Chern insulator
Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学）；INO-CNR（意大利国家研究委员会光学研究所）；Università di Trento（特伦托大学）；Ecole Polytechnique（巴黎综合理工学院）；Institut Polytechnique de Paris（巴黎理工学院）；Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University（东北大学材料科学研究高等研究院）；Institut Courtois（库尔瓦研究所）
Practical quantum tokens: challenges and perspectives
Walther-Meißner-Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften（瓦尔特·迈斯纳研究所，巴伐利亚科学院）；School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich（慕尼黑工业大学自然科学学院）；Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST)（慕尼黑量子科学与技术中心）；Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Physikalisches Institut（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院物理研究所）；Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Informationstechnik, School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich（慕尼黑工业大学计算、信息与技术学院理论信息技术教席）；Institut für Nachrichtentechnik（通信技术研究所）
