02060nas a2200217 4500008004100000245006500041210006400106260001400170520145900184100001501643700001201658700001501670700002001685700001301705700002001718700001501738700001201753700002501765700001501790856003701805 2021 eng d00aObservation of Stark many-body localization without disorder0 aObservation of Stark manybody localization without disorder c2/14/20213 a
Thermalization is a ubiquitous process of statistical physics, in which details of few-body observables are washed out in favor of a featureless steady state. Even in isolated quantum many-body systems, limited to reversible dynamics, thermalization typically prevails. However, in these systems, there is another possibility: many-body localization (MBL) can result in preservation of a non-thermal state. While disorder has long been considered an essential ingredient for this phenomenon, recent theoretical work has suggested that a quantum many-body system with a uniformly increasing field -- but no disorder -- can also exhibit MBL, resulting in `Stark MBL.' Here we realize Stark MBL in a trapped-ion quantum simulator and demonstrate its key properties: halting of thermalization and slow propagation of correlations. Tailoring the interactions between ionic spins in an effective field gradient, we directly observe their microscopic equilibration for a variety of initial states, and we apply single-site control to measure correlations between separate regions of the spin chain. Further, by engineering a varying gradient, we create a disorder-free system with coexisting long-lived thermalized and nonthermal regions. The results demonstrate the unexpected generality of MBL, with implications about the fundamental requirements for thermalization and with potential uses in engineering long-lived non-equilibrium quantum matter.
1 aMorong, W.1 aLiu, F.1 aBecker, P.1 aCollins, K., S.1 aFeng, L.1 aKyprianidis, A.1 aPagano, G.1 aYou, T.1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V.1 aMonroe, C. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2102.0725001912nas a2200265 4500008004100000245007900041210006900120260001500189520117500204100001601379700001501395700001201410700001501422700002001437700001101457700001301468700001901481700002001500700001701520700001501537700001701552700002501569700001501594856003701609 2019 eng d00aObservation of Domain Wall Confinement and Dynamics in a Quantum Simulator0 aObservation of Domain Wall Confinement and Dynamics in a Quantum c12/23/20193 aConfinement is a ubiquitous mechanism in nature, whereby particles feel an attractive force that increases without bound as they separate. A prominent example is color confinement in particle physics, in which baryons and mesons are produced by quark confinement. Analogously, confinement can also occur in low-energy quantum many-body systems when elementary excitations are confined into bound quasiparticles. Here, we report the first observation of magnetic domain wall confinement in interacting spin chains with a trapped-ion quantum simulator. By measuring how correlations spread, we show that confinement can dramatically suppress information propagation and thermalization in such many-body systems. We are able to quantitatively determine the excitation energy of domain wall bound states from non-equilibrium quench dynamics. Furthermore, we study the number of domain wall excitations created for different quench parameters, in a regime that is difficult to model with classical computers. This work demonstrates the capability of quantum simulators for investigating exotic high-energy physics phenomena, such as quark collision and string breaking
1 aTan, W., L.1 aBecker, P.1 aLiu, F.1 aPagano, G.1 aCollins, K., S.1 aDe, A.1 aFeng, L.1 aKaplan, H., B.1 aKyprianidis, A.1 aLundgren, R.1 aMorong, W.1 aWhitsitt, S.1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V.1 aMonroe, C. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1912.1111701764nas a2200289 4500008004100000245007400041210006900115260001500184520095900199100001501158700001401173700001501187700002001202700001101222700001701233700001901250700002001269700001601289700002901305700001801334700001801352700001201370700001501382700002501397700001501422856003701437 2019 eng d00aQuantum Approximate Optimization with a Trapped-Ion Quantum Simulator0 aQuantum Approximate Optimization with a TrappedIon Quantum Simul c06/06/20193 aQuantum computers and simulators may offer significant advantages over their classical counterparts, providing insights into quantum many-body systems and possibly solving exponentially hard problems, such as optimization and satisfiability. Here we report the first implementation of a shallow-depth Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) using an analog quantum simulator to estimate the ground state energy of the transverse field Ising model with tunable long-range interactions. First, we exhaustively search the variational control parameters to approximate the ground state energy with up to 40 trapped-ion qubits. We then interface the quantum simulator with a classical algorithm to more efficiently find the optimal set of parameters that minimizes the resulting energy of the system. We finally sample from the full probability distribution of the QAOA output with single-shot and efficient measurements of every qubit.
1 aPagano, G.1 aBapat, A.1 aBecker, P.1 aCollins, K., S.1 aDe, A.1 aHess, P., W.1 aKaplan, H., B.1 aKyprianidis, A.1 aTan, W., L.1 aBaldwin, Christopher, L.1 aBrady, L., T.1 aDeshpande, A.1 aLiu, F.1 aJordan, S.1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V.1 aMonroe, C. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1906.0270001463nas a2200229 4500008004100000245006800041210006700109520082000176100001500996700001701011700001901028700001601047700001701063700001501080700002001095700001401115700001901129700002201148700001101170700001501181856003701196 2018 eng d00aCryogenic Trapped-Ion System for Large Scale Quantum Simulation0 aCryogenic TrappedIon System for Large Scale Quantum Simulation3 aWe present a cryogenic ion trapping system designed for large scale quantum simulation of spin models. Our apparatus is based on a segmented-blade ion trap enclosed in a 4 K cryostat, which enables us to routinely trap over 100 171Yb+ ions in a linear configuration for hours due to a low background gas pressure from differential cryo-pumping. We characterize the cryogenic vacuum by using trapped ion crystals as a pressure gauge, measuring both inelastic and elastic collision rates with the molecular background gas. We demonstrate nearly equidistant ion spacing for chains of up to 44 ions using anharmonic axial potentials. This reliable production and lifetime enhancement of large linear ion chains will enable quantum simulation of spin models that are intractable with classical computer modelling.
1 aPagano, G.1 aHess, P., W.1 aKaplan, H., B.1 aTan, W., L.1 aRicherme, P.1 aBecker, P.1 aKyprianidis, A.1 aZhang, J.1 aBirckelbaw, E.1 aHernandez, M., R.1 aWu, Y.1 aMonroe, C. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1802.0311801952nas a2200229 4500008004100000245009200041210006900133260001500202300001200217490000800229520128300237100001401520700001501534700001701549700002001566700001501586700001501601700002501616700001801641700001501659856004801674 2017 eng d00aObservation of a Many-Body Dynamical Phase Transition with a 53-Qubit Quantum Simulator0 aObservation of a ManyBody Dynamical Phase Transition with a 53Qu c2017/11/29 a601-6040 v5513 aA quantum simulator is a restricted class of quantum computer that controls the interactions between quantum bits in a way that can be mapped to certain difficult quantum many-body problems. As more control is exerted over larger numbers of qubits, the simulator can tackle a wider range of problems, with the ultimate limit being a universal quantum computer that can solve general classes of hard problems. We use a quantum simulator composed of up to 53 qubits to study a non-equilibrium phase transition in the transverse field Ising model of magnetism, in a regime where conventional statistical mechanics does not apply. The qubits are represented by trapped ion spins that can be prepared in a variety of initial pure states. We apply a global long-range Ising interaction with controllable strength and range, and measure each individual qubit with near 99% efficiency. This allows the single-shot measurement of arbitrary many-body correlations for the direct probing of the dynamical phase transition and the uncovering of computationally intractable features that rely on the long-range interactions and high connectivity between the qubits.
1 aZhang, J.1 aPagano, G.1 aHess, P., W.1 aKyprianidis, A.1 aBecker, P.1 aKaplan, H.1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V.1 aGong, Z., -X.1 aMonroe, C. uhttps://www.nature.com/articles/nature24654