Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of constructing a large-scale storage-ring-type ion-trap system capable of storing, cooling, and controlling a large number of ions as a platform for scalable quantum computing (QC) and quantum simulations (QS). In such a trap, the ions form a crystalline beam moving along a circular path with a constant velocity determined by the frequency and intensity of the cooling lasers. In this paper we consider a large leap forward in terms of the number of qubits, from fewer than 100 available in state-of-the-art linear ion-trap devices today to an order of 105 crystallized ions in the storage-ring setup. This new trap design unifies two different concepts: the storage rings of charged particles and the linear ion traps used for QC and mass spectrometry. In this paper we use the language of particle accelerators to discuss the ion state and dynamics. We outline the differences between the above concepts, analyze challenges of the large ring with a revolving beam of ions, and propose goals for the research and development required to enable future quantum computers with 1000 times more qubits than available today. The challenge of creating such a large-scale quantum system while maintaining the necessary coherence of the qubits and the high fidelity of quantum logic operations is significant. Performing analog quantum simulations may be an achievable initial goal for such a device. Quantum simulations of complex quantum systems will move forward both the fundamental science and the applied research. Nuclear and particle physics, many-body quantum systems, lattice gauge theories, and nuclear structure calculations are just a few examples in which a large-scale quantum simulation system would be a very powerful tool to move forward our understanding of nature.
Highlights
Quantum computers harness the power of quantum mechanics to perform a variety of important computational tasks significantly more efficiently than their classical counterparts [1]
In contrast to Ref. [38], where the authors in general terms shared the idea of using storage rings with crystalline beams as a quantum computer, we evaluate specific objectives ahead of the ring designers, assess their level of severity and propose mid-term R&D goal to make the first step along long path from the quantum computer on a modern ion trap to the large-scale processor on a future circular machine
It is clear that there are gaps between the quality of crystalline beams achieved to date and what is required to enable quantum computations
Summary
Quantum computers harness the power of quantum mechanics to perform a variety of important computational tasks significantly more efficiently than their classical counterparts [1]. On the other hand, can solve difficult problems in physics, chemistry, and biology exponentially faster than the most advanced classical supercomputers [2] Both types of devices, the quantum computers and the quantum simulators, are similar in that they use quantum bits, or qubits, to encode information and perform calculations. Various physical systems are being actively investigated as potential qubit candidates, including single atoms [4] and ions [5], superconducting circuits [6], semiconductor devices [7], linear optical systems [8], nitrogen vacancies in diamonds [9], and others The performance of these disparate systems varies widely in terms of the qubit state coherence, operational time scales, quantum gate fidelity, and scalability. Scaling up this number to hundreds of thousands of physical qubits, where running of practical and useful quantum computing (QC) algorithms with fully implemented error correction and fault-tolerant operations may become possible, is an outstanding challenge in the field of QC
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