No Arabic abstract
We introduce a scheme for preparation, manipulation, and readout of Majorana zero modes in semiconducting wires with mesoscopic superconducting islands. Our approach synthesizes recent advances in materials growth with tools commonly used in quantum-dot experiments, including gate-control of tunnel barriers and Coulomb effects, charge sensing, and charge pumping. We outline a sequence of milestones interpolating between zero-mode detection and quantum computing that includes (1) detection of fusion rules for non-Abelian anyons using either proximal charge sensors or pumped current; (2) validation of a prototype topological qubit; and (3) demonstration of non-Abelian statistics by braiding in a branched geometry. The first two milestones require only a single wire with two islands, and additionally enable sensitive measurements of the systems excitation gap, quasiparticle poisoning rates, residual Majorana zero-mode splittings, and topological-qubit coherence times. These pre-braiding experiments can be adapted to other manipulation and readout schemes as well.
We propose a universal quantum computing scheme in which the orthogonal qubit states $|0>$ and $|1>$ are identical in their single-particle spin and charge properties. Each qubit is contained in a single quantum dot and gate operations are induced all-electrically by changes in the confinement potential. Within the computational space, these qubits are robust against environmental influences that couple to the system through single-particle channels. Due to the identical spin and charge properties of the $|0>$, $|1>$ states, the lowest-order relaxation and decoherence rates $1/T_1$ and $1/T_2$, within the Born-Markov approximation, both vanish for a large class of environmental couplings. We give explicit pulse sequences for a universal set of gates (phase, $pi/8$, Hadamard, textsc{cnot}) and discuss state preparation, manipulation, and detection.
In a topological quantum computer, braids of non-Abelian anyons in a (2+1)-dimensional space-time form quantum gates, whose fault tolerance relies on the topological, rather than geometric, properties of the braids. Here we propose to create and exploit redundant geometric degrees of freedom to improve the theoretical accuracy of topological single- and two-qubit quantum gates. We demonstrate the power of the idea using explicit constructions in the Fibonacci model. We compare its efficiency with that of the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm and explain its connection to the leakage errors reduction in an earlier construction [Phys. Rev. A 78, 042325 (2008)].
We propose a universal gate set acting on a qubit formed by the degenerate ground states of a Coulomb-blockaded time-reversal invariant topological superconductor island with spatially separated Majorana Kramers pairs: the Majorana Kramers Qubit. All gate operations are implemented by coupling the Majorana Kramers pairs to conventional superconducting leads. Interestingly, in such an all-superconducting device, the energy gap of the leads provides another layer of protection from quasiparticle poisoning independent of the island charging energy. Moreover, the absence of strong magnetic fields - which typically reduce the superconducting gap size of the island - suggests a unique robustness of our qubit to quasiparticle poisoning due to thermal excitations. Consequently, the Majorana Kramers Qubit should benefit from prolonged coherence times and may provide an alternative route to a Majorana-based quantum computer.
The idea of topological quantum computation (TQC) is to store and manipulate quantum information in an intrinsically fault-tolerant manner by utilizing the physics of topologically ordered phases of matter. Currently, one of the most promising platforms for a topological qubit is in terms of Majorana fermion zero modes (MZMs) in spin-orbit coupled superconducting nanowires. However, the topologically robust operations that are possible with MZMs can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer and are therefore not sufficient for realizing a universal gate set for TQC. Here, we show that an array of coupled semiconductor-superconductor nanowires with MZM edge states can be used to realize a more sophisticated type of non-Abelian defect: a genon in an Ising $times$ Ising topological state. This leads to a possible implementation of the missing topologically protected $pi/8$ phase gate and thus universal TQC based on semiconductor-superconductor nanowire technology. We provide detailed numerical estimates of the relevant energy scales, which we show to lie within accessible ranges.
We introduce a new class of primitive building blocks for realizing quantum logic elements based on nanoscale magnetization textures called skyrmions. In a skyrmion qubit, information is stored in the quantum degree of helicity, and the logical states can be adjusted by electric and magnetic fields, offering a rich operation regime with high anharmonicity. By exploring a large parameter space, we propose two skyrmion qubit variants depending on their quantized state. We discuss appropriate microwave pulses required to generate single-qubit gates for quantum computing, and skyrmion multiqubit schemes for a scalable architecture with tailored couplings. Scalability, controllability by microwave fields, operation time scales, and readout by nonvolatile techniques converge to make the skyrmion qubit highly attractive as a logical element of a quantum processor.