No Arabic abstract
Cold atoms and ions exhibit unparalleled performance in frequency metrology epitomized in the atomic clock. More recently, such atomic systems have been used to implement programmable quantum computers and simulators with highest reported operational fidelities across platforms. Their strength in metrology and quantum information processing offers the opportunity to utilize tailored, programmable entanglement generation to approach the `optimal quantum sensor compatible with quantum mechanics. Here we report quantum enhancement in metrology beyond squeezing through low-depth, variational quantum circuits searching for optimal input states and measurement operators in a trapped ion platform. We perform entanglement-enhanced Ramsey interferometry finding optimal parameters for variational quantum circuits using a Bayesian approach to stochastic phase estimation tailored to the sensor platform capabilities and finite dynamic range of the interferometer. We verify the performance by both directly using theory predictions of optimal parameters, and performing online quantum-classical feedback optimization to `self-calibrate the variational parameters. In both cases we find that variational circuits outperform classical and direct spin squeezing strategies under realistic noise and imperfections. With 26 ions we achieve 2.02(8) dB of metrological gain over classical interferometers.
Thermodynamics is one of the oldest and well-established branches of physics that sets boundaries to what can possibly be achieved in macroscopic systems. While it started as a purely classical theory, it was realized in the early days of quantum mechanics that large quantum devices, such as masers or lasers, can be treated with the thermodynamic formalism. Remarkable progress has been made recently in the miniaturization of heat engines all the way to the single Brownian particle as well as to a single atom. However, despite several theoretical proposals, the implementation of heat machines in the fully quantum regime remains a challenge. Here, we report an experimental realization of a quantum absorption refrigerator in a system of three trapped ions, with three of its normal modes of motion coupled by a trilinear Hamiltonian such that heat transfer between two modes refrigerates the third. We investigate the dynamics and steady-state properties of the refrigerator and compare its cooling capability when only thermal states are involved to the case when squeezing is employed as a quantum resource. We also study the performance of such a refrigerator in the single shot regime, and demonstrate cooling below both the steady-state energy and the benchmark predicted by the classical thermodynamics treatment.
A system of harmonic oscillators coupled via nonlinear interaction is a fundamental model in many branches of physics, from biophysics to electronics and condensed matter physics. In quantum optics, weak nonlinear interaction between light modes has enabled, for example, the preparation of squeezed states of light and generation of entangled photon pairs. While strong nonlinear interaction between the modes has been realized in circuit QED systems, achieving significant interaction strength on the level of single quanta in other physical systems remains a challenge. Here we experimentally demonstrate such interaction that is equivalent to photon up- and down-conversion using normal modes of motion in a system of two Yb ions. The nonlinearity is induced by the intrinsic anharmonicity of the Coulomb interaction between the ions and can be used to simulate fully quantum operation of a degenerate optical parametric oscillator. We exploit this interaction to directly measure the parity and Wigner functions of ion motional states. The nonlinear coupling, combined with near perfect control of internal and motional states of trapped ions, can be applied to quantum computing, quantum thermodynamics, and even shed some light on the quantum information aspects of Hawking radiation.
We briefly discuss recent experiments on quantum information processing using trapped ions at NIST. A central theme of this work has been to increase our capabilities in terms of quantum computing protocols, but we have also applied the same concepts to improved metrology, particularly in the area of frequency standards and atomic clocks. Such work may eventually shed light on more fundamental issues, such as the quantum measurement problem.
Vibrational degrees of freedom in trapped-ion systems have recently been gaining attention as a quantum resource, beyond the role as a mediator for entangling quantum operations on internal degrees of freedom, because of the large available Hilbert space. The vibrational modes can be represented as quantum harmonic oscillators and thus offer a Hilbert space with infinite dimension. Here we review recent theoretical and experimental progress in the coherent manipulation of the vibrational modes, including bosonic encoding schemes in quantum information, reliable and efficient measurement techniques, and quantum operations that allow various quantum simulations and quantum computation algorithms. We describe experiments using the vibrational modes, including the preparation of non-classical states, molecular vibronic sampling, and applications in quantum thermodynamics. We finally discuss the potential prospects and challenges of trapped-ion vibrational-mode quantum information processing.
Control over physical systems at the quantum level is a goal shared by scientists in fields as diverse as metrology, information processing, simulation and chemistry. For trapped atomic ions, the quantized motional and internal degrees of freedom can be coherently manipulated with laser light. Similar control is difficult to achieve with radio frequency or microwave radiation because the essential coupling between internal degrees of freedom and motion requires significant field changes over the extent of the atoms motion. The field gradients are negligible at these frequencies for freely propagating fields; however, stronger gradients can be generated in the near-field of microwave currents in structures smaller than the free-space wavelength. In the experiments reported here, we coherently manipulate the internal quantum states of the ions on time scales of 20 ns. We also generate entanglement between the internal degrees of freedom of two atoms with a gate operation suitable for general quantum computation. We implement both operations through the magnetic fields from microwave currents in electrodes that are integrated into the micro-fabricated trap structure and create an entangled state with fidelity 76(3) %. This approach, where the quantum control mechanism is integrated into the trapping device in a scalable manner, can potentially benefit quantum information processing, simulation and spectroscopy.