No Arabic abstract
Fast scramblers are dynamical quantum systems that produce many-body entanglement on a timescale that grows logarithmically with the system size $N$. We propose and investigate a family of deterministic, fast scrambling quantum circuits realizable in near-term experiments with arrays of neutral atoms. We show that three experimental tools -- nearest-neighbour Rydberg interactions, global single-qubit rotations, and shuffling operations facilitated by an auxiliary tweezer array -- are sufficient to generate nonlocal interaction graphs capable of scrambling quantum information using only $O(log N)$ parallel applications of nearest-neighbor gates. These tools enable direct experimental access to fast scrambling dynamics in a highly controlled and programmable way, and can be harnessed to produce highly entangled states with varied applications.
Controlling non-equilibrium quantum dynamics in many-body systems is an outstanding challenge as interactions typically lead to thermalization and a chaotic spreading throughout Hilbert space. We experimentally investigate non-equilibrium dynamics following rapid quenches in a many-body system composed of 3 to 200 strongly interacting qubits in one and two spatial dimensions. Using a programmable quantum simulator based on Rydberg atom arrays, we probe coherent revivals corresponding to quantum many-body scars. Remarkably, we discover that scar revivals can be stabilized by periodic driving, which generates a robust subharmonic response akin to discrete time-crystalline order. We map Hilbert space dynamics, geometry dependence, phase diagrams, and system-size dependence of this emergent phenomenon, demonstrating novel ways to steer entanglement dynamics in many-body systems and enabling potential applications in quantum information science.
We report on improvements extending the capabilities of the atom-by-atom assembler described in [Barredo et al., Science 354, 1021 (2016)] that we use to create fully-loaded target arrays of more than 100 single atoms in optical tweezers, starting from randomly-loaded, half-filled initial arrays. We describe four variants of the sorting algorithm that (i) allow decrease the number of moves needed for assembly and (ii) enable the assembly of arbitrary, non-regular target arrays. We finally demonstrate experimentally the performance of this enhanced assembler for a variety of target arrays.
Quantum entanglement involving coherent superpositions of macroscopically distinct states is among the most striking features of quantum theory, but its realization is challenging, since such states are extremely fragile. Using a programmable quantum simulator based on neutral atom arrays with interactions mediated by Rydberg states, we demonstrate the deterministic generation of Schrodinger cat states of the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type with up to 20 qubits. Our approach is based on engineering the energy spectrum and using optimal control of the many-body system. We further demonstrate entanglement manipulation by using GHZ states to distribute entanglement to distant sites in the array, establishing important ingredients for quantum information processing and quantum metrology.
Atomic systems, ranging from trapped ions to ultracold and Rydberg atoms, offer unprecedented control over both internal and external degrees of freedom at the single-particle level. They are considered among the foremost candidates for realizing quantum simulation and computation platforms that can outperform classical computers at specific tasks. In this work, we describe a realistic experimental toolbox for quantum information processing with neutral alkaline-earth-like atoms in optical tweezer arrays. In particular, we propose a comprehensive and scalable architecture based on a programmable array of alkaline-earth-like atoms, exploiting their electronic clock states as a precise and robust auxiliary degree of freedom, and thus allowing for efficient all-optical one- and two-qubit operations between nuclear spin qubits. The proposed platform promises excellent performance thanks to high-fidelity register initialization, rapid spin-exchange gates and error detection in readout. As a benchmark and application example, we compute the expected fidelity of an increasing number of subsequent SWAP gates for optimal parameters, which can be used to distribute entanglement between remote atoms within the array.
The establishment of a scalable scheme for quantum computing with addressable and long-lived qubits would be a scientific watershed, harnessing the laws of quantum physics to solve classically intractable problems. The design of many proposed quantum computational platforms is driven by competing needs: isolating the quantum system from the environment to prevent decoherence, and easily and accurately controlling the system with external fields. For example, neutral-atom optical-lattice architectures provide environmental isolation through the use of states that are robust against fluctuating external fields, yet external fields are essential for qubit addressing. Here we demonstrate the selection of individual qubits with external fields, despite the fact that the qubits are in field-insensitive superpositions. We use a spatially inhomogeneous external field to map selected qubits to a different field-insensitive superposition (optical MRI), minimally perturbing unselected qubits, despite the fact that the addressing field is not spatially localized. We show robust single-qubit rotations on neutral-atom qubits located at selected lattice sites. This precise coherent control is an important step forward for lattice-based neutral-atom quantum computation, and is quite generally applicable to state transfer and qubit isolation in other architectures using field-insensitive qubits.