Reconfigurable network for quantum transport simulations

Mario A Quiroz-Juárez,Diego Montiel-Álvarez,José L Aragón,Omar S Magaña-Loaiza,Chenglong You,Roberto De J León-Montiel,Javier Carrillo-Martínez

doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.3.013010

Abstract

In 1981, Richard Feynman discussed the possibility of performing quantum mechanical simulations of nature. Ever since, there has been an enormous interest in using quantum mechanical systems, known as quantum simulators, to mimic specific physical systems. Hitherto, these controllable systems have been implemented on different platforms that rely on trapped atoms, superconducting circuits and photonic arrays. Unfortunately, these platforms do not seem to satisfy, at once, all desirable features of an universal simulator, namely long-lived coherence, full control of system parameters, low losses, and scalability. Here, we overcome these challenges and demonstrate robust simulation of quantum transport phenomena using a state-of-art reconfigurable electronic network. To test the robustness and precise control of our platform, we explore the ballistic propagation of a single-excitation wavefunction in an ordered lattice, and its localization due to disorder. We implement the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model to directly observe the emergence of topologically-protected one-dimensional edge states. Furthermore, we present the realization of the so-called perfect transport protocol, a key milestone for the development of scalable quantum computing and communication. Finally, we show the first simulation of the exciton dynamics in the B800 ring of the purple bacteria LH2 complex. The high fidelity of our simulations together with the low decoherence of our device make it a robust, versatile and promising platform for the simulation of quantum transport phenomena.

Highlights

Understanding the limits of controllability of quantum and classical transport has long been considered a topic of great relevance in physics, chemistry, and biology [1,2,3]
This allows us to explore different quantum transport protocols, including Anderson localization, the emergence of edge states in the SSH model, the coherent transfer of a quantum state, and the simulation of excitonic-energy transport in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes
It is important to remark that given the stochastic nature of Anderson localization, the results shown in each panel of Fig. 1 correspond to the average of 50 different disordered-array time evolutions

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Understanding the limits of controllability of quantum and classical transport has long been considered a topic of great relevance in physics, chemistry, and biology [1,2,3]. The control of transport phenomena at the nanoscale has shown an enormous potential for the development of new light-harvesting technologies for solar energy conversion [4], enhanced sensing [5,6,7], and even for the design of electronic and photonic circuits capable of performing complex tasks with high efficiency [8,9,10,11] In this regard, quantum (and classical) random walks have emerged as useful models for the experimental simulation of nontrivial transport phenomena in physical systems. We show the capability of our platform to mimic twodimensional lattices comprising independently addressable long-range interactions This is demonstrated by simulating the exciton dynamics in a modified B800 ring with artificially introduced couplings between far-lying sites

THEORETICAL MODEL

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

CONCLUSION