We show how quantum-inspired 2D tensor networks can be used to efficiently and accurately simulate the largest quantum processors from IBM, namely Eagle (127 qubits), Osprey (433 qubits), and Condor (1121 qubits). We simulate the dynamics of a complex quantum many-body system—specifically, the kicked Ising experiment considered recently by IBM in Y. Kim et al., Nature (London) 618, 500 (2023)—using graph-based projected entangled pair states (gPEPS), which was proposed by some of us in Phys. Rev. B 99, 195105 (2019). Our results show that simple tensor updates are already sufficient to achieve very large unprecedented accuracy with remarkably low computational resources for this model. Apart from simulating the original experiment for 127 qubits, we also extend our results to 433 and 1121 qubits, and for evolution times around eight times longer, thus setting a benchmark for the newest IBM quantum machines. We also report accurate simulations for infinitely many qubits. Our results show that gPEPS are a natural tool to efficiently simulate quantum computers with an underlying lattice-based qubit connectivity, such as all quantum processors based on superconducting qubits.

A number of exciting recent results have been seen in the field of quantum error correction. These include initial demonstrations of error correction on current quantum hardware and resource estimates which improve understanding of the requirements to run large-scale quantum algorithms for real-world applications. In this work, we bridge the gap between these two developments by performing careful estimation of the resources required to fault-tolerantly perform quantum phase estimation (QPE) on a minimal chemical example. Specifically, we describe a detailed compilation of the QPE circuit to lattice surgery operations for the rotated surface code, for a hydrogen molecule in a minimal basis set. We describe a number of optimizations at both the algorithmic and error correction levels. We find that implementing even a simple chemistry circuit requires 1000 qubits and 2300 quantum error correction rounds, emphasising the need for improved error correction techniques specifically targeting the early fault-tolerant regime.

We present a comprehensive analytical model of resonant states in birefringent microcavities with permeable mirrors. We derive an effective, non-Hermitian photonic Hamiltonian describing cavity mode dispersion and modal lifetimes by applying the Green's function technique based on the Mittag-Leffler expansion with respect to the resonant states and the $\mathit{k}·\mathit{p}$ perturbation theory known from semiconductor physics. Using this formalism we obtained results which can be interpreted as effective cavity mode spin-orbit coupling. We use this method to derive the two-mode Hamiltonian to describe the properties of light in the cavity, which significantly reduces the computational effort and properly captures the polarization of the eigenmodes. This is done by introducing the necessary corrections to the Hamiltonian matrix and modifying the basis modes resulting from the coupling with other optical modes present in the system. This simplified Hamiltonian allows us to determine the positions of exceptional points in momentum space. These points are connected by Fermi arcs and appear due to non-Hermiticity and $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry.

The proton-boron (p-${}^{11}\mathrm{B}$) reaction is regarded as the holy grail of advanced fusion fuels, since the primary reaction produces three $\alpha$ particles with few neutrons and induced radioactivities from second order reactions. Compared to the deuterium-tritium reaction a much higher reaction temperature is required. Moreover, bremsstrahlung energy losses due to the high nuclear charge of boron deem it seemingly apparent than a fusion reactor based on deuterium-tritium plasma in equilibrium is to say the least very difficult. It is becoming more appealing to collide intense laser beams or accelerated proton beams with a boron target to produce p-${}^{11}\mathrm{B}$ reactions. The fusion yield of p-${}^{11}\mathrm{B}$ reactions is closely related to proton beam parameters and boron target conditions such as density, temperature, and ingredients. Degeneracy will increase fusion yields by reducing the stopping power of injected protons. In this work, we suggest a scheme for beam-target p-${}^{11}\mathrm{B}$ fusions via injecting a MeV proton beam into a highly compressed quantum degenerated boron target. Such a boron target can be achieved via quasi-isentropic compression of solid boron by using precisely shaped laser pulses. Our results indicate that for densities ranging from ${10}^3$ to ${10}^4{\rho }_s$, where ${\rho }_s$ is the density of solid boron, contributions of bound and free electrons to the stopping of protons can be completely disregarded and dramatically reduced, respectively. The result is an increase in fusion yield by orders of magnitude. Furthermore, in order to achieve multiplication factor $F$ greater than one, with $F$ defined as the ratio of output fusion energy to the energy of injected protons, it is found there exists a minimum possible density of boron target, which is $1.8\times {10}^5{\rho }_s$ when the kinetic energy of injected protons is 880 keV.

Anderson localization has been widely studied in low-dimensional aperiodic electronic, photonic, and acoustic systems. However, the disorder effect in the plasmonic system, where retardation and long-range couplings interact in complex ways, remains an open question. In this work, we investigate the localization properties of one-dimensional quasiperiodic plasmonic chains using the coupled dipole method and linearized Green's function. Our models, which incorporate nearest-neighbor or long-range dipole interactions, reveal localization transitions, mobility edges, and intermediate phases. It is found that long-range dipole interactions and non-Hermiticity due to retardation both play crucial roles in Anderson localization, yielding the emergence of intermediate phases with varying widths. A link between non-Hermiticity and Anderson transition is established by the mean phase rigidity, revealing strong non-Hermiticity along the phase boundary. The plasmonic model involving long-range interplay and retarded effect presents richer localization phenomena than the electronic counterpart that usually includes only nearest-neighbor coupling, laying a foundation for experimental observations of Anderson localization on plasmonic platforms.

In this paper, we present an effective approach to tailor the optical properties of coupled corner states in photonic crystal (PhC) supercell arrays by symmetry breaking. Defects are strategically introduced into unit cells to break the in-plane $C_{4v}$ symmetry, and numerical simulations confirm the preservation of the band gap and two-dimensional Zak phases, in spite of the presence of defects. Notably, the size of defects is demonstrated to play a significant role in tuning the eigenfrequencies, quality ($Q$) factors, and band structures of the coupled corner states. Furthermore, these defects exhibit the ability to transform topological dark states into bright states, enabling efficient excitation by external plane waves and polarization-dependent $Q$ factors. The resonant origin of the coupled corner states is comprehensively elucidated using a multipole decomposition analysis. This study further releases the potential of the topological light-matter interaction, holding significant implications for the design and advancement of topological photonic devices with on-demand tunability and multifrequency regions for various applications such as lasing, sensing, and quantum information processing.

An atomic array coupled to a one-dimensional nanophotonic waveguide allows photon-mediated dipole-dipole interactions and nonreciprocal decay channels. Such an array possesses many intriguing quantum phenomena due to its distinctive and emergent quantum correlations. In this atom-waveguide quantum system, we theoretically investigate the atomic excitation dynamics and its transport property, specifically at an interface of dissimilar atomic arrays with different interparticle distances. We find that the atomic excitation dynamics is highly dependent on the interparticle distances of dissimilar arrays and the directionality of nonreciprocal couplings. By tuning these parameters, a dominant excitation reflection can be achieved at the interface of the arrays in the single excitation case. We further study two effects on the transport property—of external drive and of single excitation delocalization over multiple atoms—where we manifest a rich interplay between multisite excitation and the relative phase in determining the transport properties. Finally, we present an intriguing trapping effect of atomic excitation by designing multiple zones of dissimilar arrays. Similar to the single excitations, multiple excitations are reflected from the array interfaces and trapped as well, although complete trapping of many excitations together is relatively challenging at long time due to a faster combined decay rate. Our results can provide insights into nonequilibrium quantum dynamics in dissimilar arrays, and they can shed light on confining and controlling quantum registers useful for quantum information processing.

We present a faster repumping scheme for strontium magneto-optical traps operating on the broad $5{\mathrm{s}}^2{}^1{S}_0-{5s5p}^1{P}_1$ laser cooling transition. Contrary to existing repumping schemes, we directly address lost atoms that spontaneously decayed to the $5s4d^1{D}_2$ state, sending them back into the laser cooling cycle by optical pumping on the ${5s4d}^1{D}_2-{5s8p}^1{P}_1$ transition. We thus avoid the $\sim 100\mu \mathrm{s}$-slow decay path from $5s4d^1{D}_2$ to the ${5s5p}^3{P}_{1,2}$ states that is part of other repumping schemes. Using one low-cost external-cavity diode laser emitting at $448\mathrm{nm}$, we show our scheme increases the flux out of a 2D magneto-optical trap by $60\%$ compared to without repumping. Furthermore, we perform spectroscopy on the ${5s4d}^1{D}_2-{5s8p}^1{P}_1$ transition and measure its frequency ${\nu }_{{}^{88}\mathrm{Sr}}=(668917515.3\pm 4.0\pm 25)\mathrm{MHz}$. We also measure the frequency shifts between the four stable isotopes of strontium and infer the specific mass and field shift factors, $\delta {\nu }_{\text{SMS}}^{88,86}=-267\left(45\right)\mathrm{M}\mathrm{Hz}$ and $\delta {\nu }_{\text{FS}}^{88,86}=2\left(42\right)\mathrm{M}\mathrm{Hz}$. Finally, we measure the hyperfine splitting of the ${5s8p}^1{P}_1$ state in fermionic strontium and deduce the magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole coupling coefficients $A=-4\left(5\right)\mathrm{MHz}$ and $B=5\left(35\right)\mathrm{MHz}$. Our experimental demonstration shows that this simple and very fast scheme could improve the laser cooling and imaging performance of cold strontium atom devices, such as quantum computers based on strontium atoms in arrays of optical tweezers.

A bath with a negative temperature is a subject of intense debate in recent times. It raises fundamental questions not only on our understanding of negative temperature of a bath in connection with thermodynamics but also on the possibilities of constructing devices using such baths. In this work, we study steady-state quantum thermodynamics involving baths with negative temperatures. A bath with a negative temperature is created synthetically using two baths of positive temperatures and weakly coupling these with a qutrit system. These baths are then coupled to each other via a working system. At steady state, the laws of thermodynamics are analyzed. We find that whenever the temperatures of these synthetic baths are identical, there is no heat flow, which reaffirms the zeroth law. There is always a spontaneous heat flow for different temperatures. In particular, heat flows from a bath with a negative temperature to a bath with a positive temperature which, in turn, implies that a bath with a negative temperature is “hotter” than a bath with a positive temperature. This warrants an amendment in the Kelvin-Planck statement of the second law, as suggested in earlier studies. In all these processes, the overall entropy production is positive, as required by the Clausius statement of the second law. We construct continuous heat engines operating between positive and negative temperature baths. These engines yield maximum possible heat-to-work conversion efficiency, that is, unity. We also study the thermodynamic nature of heat from a bath with a negative temperature and find that it is thermodynamic work but with negative entropy.

We investigate the dynamics of an $N$-qubit interacting system coupled to a common reservoir. In the weak system-environment coupling regime, the crossovers from Markovian to non-Markovian and from no speedup to speedup can be realized by adjusting the controllable parameters (i.e., the coupling strength between qubits and the number of the qubits). However, in the case of strong coupling, the multiple transitions from non-Markovian regime to Markovian regime and from speedup to no speedup can be induced by manipulating controllable parameters. In addition, a phenomenon can be noticed that the number of qubits and the coupling strength between the qubits have the different effect on the non-Markovian dynamics and speedup evolution of the system in the above weak- and strong-coupling regimes. Our results provide an effective theoretical scheme for the realization of non-Markovian speedup dynamic processes.

We report successful coupling of dynamic loading in a diamond anvil cell and stable laser heating, which enables compression rates up to 500 GPa/s along high-temperature isotherms. Dynamic loading in a diamond-anvil cell allows exploration of a wider range of pathways in the pressure-temperature space compared to conventional dynamic compression techniques. By in situ x-ray diffraction, we are able to characterize and monitor the structural transitions with the appropriate time resolution i.e., millisecond timescales. Using this method, we investigate the $\gamma \text{−}\epsilon$ phase transition of iron under dynamic compression, reaching compression rates of hundreds of GPa/s and temperatures of 2000 K. Our results demonstrate a distinct response of the $\gamma \text{−}\epsilon$ and $\alpha \text{−}\epsilon$ transitions to the high compression rates achieved, possibly due to the different transition mechanisms. These findings open up new avenues to study tailored dynamic compression pathways in the pressure-temperature space and highlight the potential of this platform to capture kinetic effects (over ms time scales) in a diamond anvil cell.

Nonstationary thermodynamic quantities depend on the full details of nonstationary probability distributions, making them difficult to measure directly in experiments and numerics. We propose a method to infer thermodynamic quantities in relaxation processes by measuring only a few observables, using additional information obtained from measurements in tilted equilibrium, i.e., equilibrium with external fields applied. Our method is applicable to arbitrary classical stochastic systems, possibly underdamped, that relax to equilibrium. The method allows us to compute the exact value of the minimum entropy production (EP) compatible with the nonstationary observations, giving a tight lower bound on the true EP. Under a certain additional condition, it also allows the inference of the EP rate, thermodynamic forces, and a constraint on relaxation paths. Our method uses a Legendre transform of EP at the level of probability distributions, which we develop based on a similar Legendre transform in information geometry.

The non-Hermitian extension of quasicrystals provides a highly tunable system for exploring novel material phases. While extended-localized phase transitions have been observed in one dimension, quantum phase transitions in higher dimensions and various system sizes remain unexplored. Here, we show the discovery of a new critical phase and first-order structural transition induced by imaginary zeros in the two-dimensional Haldane model with a quasicrystal potential on the upper boundary. Initially, we illustrate a phase diagram that evolves with the amplitude and phase of the quasicrystal potential, which is divided into three distinct phases by two critical boundaries: phase (I) with extended wave functions, parity-time-restore phase (II) with localized wave functions, and a critical phase (III) with multifunctional wave functions. To characterize the wave functions in these distinct phases, we introduce a low-energy approximation theory and an effective two-chain model. Additionally, we uncover a first-order quantum phase transition induced by quasicrystal domains. As we increase the size of the potential boundary, we observe the partitioning of the critical phase into regions in proportion to the growing number of quasicrystal domains. Importantly, these observations are consistent with ground state fidelity and energy gap calculations. Our research advances the understanding of phase diagrams associated with high-dimensional quasicrystal potentials and marks the first discovery of a first-order quantum phase transition induced by quasicrystal domains in non-Hermitian systems.

We study the statistical properties of a single two-level system (qubit) subject to repetitive ancilla-based measurements. This setup is a fundamental minimal model for exploring the intricate interplay between the unitary dynamics of the system and the nonunitary stochasticity introduced by quantum measurements, which is central to the phenomenon of measurement-induced phase transitions. We demonstrate that this “toy model” harbors remarkably rich dynamics, manifesting in the distribution function of the qubit's quantum states in the long-time limit. We uncover a compelling analogy with the phenomenon of Anderson localization, albeit governed by distinct underlying mechanisms. Specifically, the state distribution function of the monitored qubit, parameterized by a single angle on the Bloch sphere, exhibits diverse types of behavior familiar from the theory of Anderson transitions, spanning from complete localization to almost uniform delocalization, with fractality occurring between the two limits. By combining analytical solutions for various special cases with two complementary numerical approaches, we achieve a comprehensive understanding of the structure delineating the “phase diagram” of the model. We categorize and quantify the emergent regimes and identify two distinct phases of the monitored qubit: ergodic and nonergodic. Furthermore, we identify a genuinely localized phase within the nonergodic phase, where the state distribution functions consist of delta peaks, as opposed to the delocalized phase characterized by extended distributions. Identification of these phases and demonstration of transitions between them in a monitored qubit are our main findings.

We utilize the theory of local amplitude transfer (LAT) to gain insights into quantum walks (QWs) and quantum annealing (QA) beyond the adiabatic theorem. By representing the eigenspace of the problem Hamiltonian as a hypercube graph, we demonstrate that probability amplitude traverses the search space through a series of local Rabi oscillations. We argue that the amplitude movement can be systematically guided towards the ground state using a time-dependent hopping rate based solely on the problem's energy spectrum. Building upon these insights, we extend the concept of multistage QW by introducing the guided quantum walk (GQW) as a bridge between QW-like and QA-like procedures. We assess the performance of the GQW on exact cover, traveling salesperson, and garden optimization problems with 9 to 30 qubits. Our results provide evidence for the existence of optimal annealing schedules, beyond the requirement of adiabatic time evolutions. These schedules might be capable of solving large-scale combinatorial optimization problems within evolution times that scale linearly in the problem size.

The simulation of complex quantum many-body systems is a promising short-term goal of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. However, the limited connectivity of native qubits hinders the implementation of quantum algorithms that require long-range interactions. We present the outcomes of a digital quantum simulation where we overcome the limitations of the qubit connectivity in NISQ devices. Utilizing the universality of quantum processor native gates, we demonstrate how to implement couplings among physically disconnected qubits at the cost of increasing the circuit depth. We apply this method to simulate a Floquet-driven quantum spin chain featuring interactions beyond nearest neighbors. Specifically, we benchmark the prethermal stabilization of the discrete Floquet time-crystalline response as the interaction range increases, a phenomenon never observed experimentally. Our quantum simulation addresses one of the significant limitations of superconducting quantum processors, namely, device connectivity. It reveals that nontrivial physics involving couplings beyond nearest neighbors can be extracted after the impact of noise is properly taken into account in the theoretical model and consequently mitigated from the experimental data.

Nonequilibrium effects may have a profound impact on the performance of thermal devices performing thermodynamic tasks such as refrigeration or heat pumping. The possibility of enhancing the performance of thermodynamic operations by means of quantum coherence is of particular interest but requires an adequate characterization of heat and work at the quantum level. In this work, we demonstrate that the presence of even small amounts of coherence in the thermal reservoirs powering a three-terminal machine, enables the appearance of combined, and hybrid modes of operation, where either different resources are combined to perform a single thermodynamic task, or more than one task is performed at the same time. We determine the performance of such coherence-enabled modes of operation obtaining their power and efficiency. In the case of hybrid regimes, the presence of coherence in the hot bath allows for an increase in power while maintaining high efficiencies. On the other hand, in combined regimes, a contrasting behavior emerges whereby coherence has a detrimental impact on power output and efficiency.

The dynamical spreading of quantum information through a many-body system, typically called scrambling, is a complex process that has proven to be essential to describe many properties of out-of-equilibrium quantum systems. Scrambling can, in principle, be fully characterized via the use of out-of-time-ordered correlation functions, which are notoriously hard to access experimentally. In this work, we put forward an alternative toolbox of measurement protocols to experimentally probe scrambling by accessing properties of the operator size probability distribution, which tracks the size of the support of observables in a many-body system over time. Our measurement protocols require the preparation of separable mixed states together with local operations and measurements, and combine the tools of randomized operations, a modern development of near-term quantum algorithms, with the use of mixed states, a standard tool in NMR experiments. We demonstrate how to efficiently probe the probability-generating function of the operator distribution and discuss the challenges associated with obtaining the moments of the operator distribution. We further show that manipulating the initial state of the protocol allows us to directly obtain the individual elements of the distribution for small system sizes.