Quantum simulators can solve problems which are difficult to simulate on classical computers because they directly exploit quantum properties of real particles. In particular, they exploit a property of quantum mechanics called superposition, wherein a quantum particle is made to be in two distinct states at the same time, for example, aligned and anti-aligned with an external magnetic field. Crucially, simulators also take advantage of a second quantum property called entanglement, allowing the behavior of even physically well separated particles to be correlated.
The trapped-ion simulator consists of a tiny, single-plane crystal of hundreds of beryllium ions, less than 1 millimeter in diameter, hovering inside a device called a Penning trap. The outermost electron of each ion acts as a tiny quantum magnet and is used as a qubit, the quantum equivalent of a “1” or a “0” in a conventional computer. In the benchmarking experiment, physicists used laser beams to cool the ions to near absolute zero. Carefully timed microwave and laser pulses then caused the qubits to interact, mimicking the quantum behavior of materials otherwise very difficult to study in the laboratory. Although the two systems may outwardly appear dissimilar, their behavior is engineered to be mathematically identical. In this way, simulators allow researchers to vary parameters that could not be changed in natural solids, such as atomic lattice spacing and geometry.
Friedenauer et al., adiabatically manipulated 2 spins, showing their separation into ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states.
Kim et al., extended the trapped ion quantum simulator to 3 spins, with global antiferromagnetic Ising interactions featuring frustration and showing the link between frustration and entanglement
and Islam et al., used adiabatic quantum simulation to demonstrate the sharpening of a phase transition between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic ordering as the number of spins increased from 2 to 9.
Barreiro et al. created a digital quantum simulator of interacting spins with up to 5 trapped ions by coupling to an open reservoir and
Lanyon et al. demonstrated digital quantum simulation with up to 6 ions.
Islam, et al., demonstrated adiabatic quantum simulation of the transverse Ising model with variable (long) range interactions with up to 18 trapped ion spins, showing control of the level of spin frustration by adjusting the antiferromagnetic interaction range.
Britton, et al. from NIST has experimentally benchmarked Ising interactions in a system of hundreds of qubits for studies of quantum magnetism.
Pagano, et al., reported a new cryogenic ion trapping system designed for long time storage of large ion chains demonstrating coherent one and two-qubit operations for chains of up to 44 ions. Joshi, et al., probed the quantum dynamics of 51 individually controlled ions, realizing a long-range interacting spin chain.
Quantum simulators using superconducting qubits fall into two main categories. First, so called quantum annealers determine ground states of certain Hamiltonians after an adiabatic ramp. This approach is sometimes called adiabatic quantum computing. Second, many systems emulate specific Hamiltonians and study their ground state properties, quantum phase transitions, or time dynamics. Several important recent results include the realization of a Mott insulator in a driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard system and studies of phase transitions in lattices of superconducting resonators coupled to qubits.
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This article incorporates public domain material from Michael E. Newman. NIST Physicists Benchmark Quantum Simulator with Hundreds of Qubits. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2013-02-22. /wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_the_federal_government_of_the_United_States
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