QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

Identical particles and entanglement are both fundamental components of quantum mechanics. However, when identical particles are condensed in a single spatial mode, the standard notions of entanglement, based on clearly identifiable subsystems, break down. This has led many to conclude that such systems have limited value for quantum information tasks, compared to distinguishable particle systems.

We describe a superconducting-circuit lattice design for the implementation and simulation of dynamical lattice gauge theories. We illustrate our proposal by analyzing a one-dimensional U(1) quantum-link model, where superconducting qubits play the role of matter fields on the lattice sites and the gauge fields are represented by two coupled microwave resonators on each link between neighboring sites.

We propose an efficient protocol for braiding Majorana fermions realized as edge states in atomic wire networks, and demonstrate its robustness against experimentally relevant errors. The braiding of two Majorana fermions located on one side of two adjacent wires requires only a few local operations on this side which can be implemented using local site addressing available in current experiments with cold atoms and molecules. Based on this protocol we provide an experimentally feasible implementation of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm for two qubits in a topologically protected way.

It is known that more than 50 species use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation and navigation. Intensive studies, particularly behavior experiments with birds, provide support for a chemical compass based on magnetically sensitive free radical reactions as a source of this sense. However, the fundamental question of how quantum coherence plays an essential role in such a chemical compass model of avian magnetoreception yet remains controversial.

We present a scheme for the dissipative preparation of an entangled steady state of two superconducting qubits in a circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) setup. Combining resonator photon loss—a dissipative process already present in the setup—with an effective two-photon microwave drive, we engineer an effective decay mechanism which prepares a maximally entangled state of the two qubits. This state is then maintained as the steady state of the driven, dissipative evolution.

A single neutral atom is trapped in a three-dimensional optical lattice at the center of a high-finesse optical resonator. Using fluorescence imaging and a shiftable standing-wave trap, the atom is deterministically loaded into the maximum of the intracavity field where the atom-cavity coupling is strong. After 5 ms of Raman sideband cooling, the three-dimensional motional ground state is populated with a probability of (89+/-2)%.

We analyze the quantum jumps of an atom interacting with a cavity field, where strong coupling makes the cavity transmission depend on the time-dependent atomic state. In our analysis we employ a Bayesian approach that conditions the population of the atomic states at time t on the cavity transmission observed both before and after t , and we show that the state assignment by this approach is more decisive than the usual conditional quantum states based on only earlier measurement data.