The actual gate performed on, say, a qubit in a quantum computer may depend, not just on the actual laser pulses and voltages we programmed to implement the gate, but on its context as well. For example, it may depend on what gate has just been applied to the same qubit, or on how much a long series of previous laser pulses has been heating up the qubit's environment. This paper analyzes several tests to detect such context-dependent errors (which include various types of non-Markovian errors). A key feature of these tests is that they are robust against both state preparation and measurement (SPAM) errors and gate-dependent errors. Since context-dependent errors are expected to be small in practice, it becomes important to carefully analyze the effects of statistical fluctuations and so we investigate the power and precision of our tests as functions of the number of repetitions and the length of the sequences of gates. From our tests an important quantity emerges: the logarithm of the determinant (log-det) of a probability (relative frequency) matrix $\mP.$ For this reason, we derive the probability distribution of the log-det estimates which we then use to examine the performance of our tests for various single- and two-qubit sets of measurements and initial states. Finally, we emphasize the connection between the log-det and the degree of reversibility (the unitarity) of a context-independent operation.

In many experiments on microscopic quantum systems, it is implicitly assumed that when a macroscopic procedure or “instruction” is repeated many times – perhaps in different contexts – each application results in the same microscopic quantum operation. But in practice, the microscopic effect of a single macroscopic instruction can easily depend on its context. If undetected, this can lead to unexpected behavior and unreliable results. Here, we design and analyze several tests to detect context-dependence. They are based on invariants of matrix products, and while they can be as data intensive as quantum process tomography, they do not require tomographic reconstruction, and are insensitive to imperfect knowledge about the experiments. We also construct a measure of how unitary (reversible) an operation is, and show how to estimate the volume of physical states accessible by a quantum operation.

We demonstrate a single-photon SWAP gate between polarization and spatial momentum on a SOI chip. 19.8% error ratio is obtained, and phase coherence of the SWAP operation is measured via single photon interference with up to 58.7% visibility.

In many experiments on microscopic quantum systems, it is implicitly assumed that when a macroscopic procedure or is repeated many times -- perhaps in different contexts -- each application results in the same microscopic quantum operation. But in practice, the microscopic effect of a single macroscopic instruction can easily depend on its context. If undetected, this can lead to unexpected behavior and unreliable results. Here, we design and analyze several tests to detect context-dependence. They are based on invariants of matrix products, and while they can be as data intensive as quantum process tomography, they do not require tomographic reconstruction, and are insensitive to imperfect knowledge about the experiments. We also construct a measure of how unitary (reversible) an operation is, and show how to estimate the volume of physical states accessible by a quantum operation.

We apply the method of compressed sensing (CS) quantum process tomography (QPT) to characterize quantum gates based on superconducting Xmon and phase qubits. Using experimental data for a two-qubit controlled-Z gate, we obtain an estimate for the process matrix chi with reasonably high fidelity compared to full QPT, but using a significantly reduced set of initial states and measurement configurations. We show that the CS method still works when the amount of used data is so small that the standard QPT would have an underdetermined system of equations. We also apply the CS method to the analysis of the three-qubit Toffoli gate with numerically added noise, and similarly show that the method works well for a substantially reduced set of data. For the CS calculations, we use two different bases in which the process matrix chi is approximately sparse, and show that the resulting estimates of the process matrices match each other with reasonably high fidelity. For both two-qubit and three-qubit gates, we characterize the quantum process by not only its process matrix and fidelity, but also by the corresponding standard deviation, defined via variation of the state fidelity for different initial states.

A universal set of logic gates in a superconducting quantum circuit is shown to have gate fidelities at the threshold for fault-tolerant quantum computing by the surface code approach, in which the quantum bits are distributed in an array of planar topology and have only nearest-neighbour couplings. Quantum computers can only work in practice if, like conventional computers, they are fault-tolerant. This means that a system has to be in place to detect any errors and correct them. For quantum error correction such a system involves entangling several quantum bits (qubits) with each other. In the so-called surface code error-correction architecture, qubits are placed in a lattice and are entangled with four nearest neighbours. Rami Barends et al. report the construction of such a surface code system with five qubits in a row made from superconducting devices. This system performs with fidelity that is at the threshold for quantum error correction, suggesting that error-free quantum computing should be possible. The platform lends itself to scaling up to larger numbers of qubits and two-dimensional architecture. A quantum computer can solve hard problems, such as prime factoring1,2, database searching3,4 and quantum simulation5, at the cost of needing to protect fragile quantum states from error. Quantum error correction6 provides this protection by distributing a logical state among many physical quantum bits (qubits) by means of quantum entanglement. Superconductivity is a useful phenomenon in this regard, because it allows the construction of large quantum circuits and is compatible with microfabrication. For superconducting qubits, the surface code approach to quantum computing7 is a natural choice for error correction, because it uses only nearest-neighbour coupling and rapidly cycled entangling gates. The gate fidelity requirements are modest: the per-step fidelity threshold is only about 99 per cent. Here we demonstrate a universal set of logic gates in a superconducting multi-qubit processor, achieving an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.92 per cent and a two-qubit gate fidelity of up to 99.4 per cent. This places Josephson quantum computing at the fault-tolerance threshold for surface code error correction. Our quantum processor is a first step towards the surface code, using five qubits arranged in a linear array with nearest-neighbour coupling. As a further demonstration, we construct a five-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state8,9 using the complete circuit and full set of gates. The results demonstrate that Josephson quantum computing is a high-fidelity technology, with a clear path to scaling up to large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum circuits.

© 2014 American Physical Society. One of the key challenges in quantum information is coherently manipulating the quantum state. However, it is an outstanding question whether control can be realized with low error. Only gates from the Clifford group - containing π, π/2, and Hadamard gates - have been characterized with high accuracy. Here, we show how the Platonic solids enable implementing and characterizing larger gate sets. We find that all gates can be implemented with low error. The results fundamentally imply arbitrary manipulation of the quantum state can be realized with high precision, providing practical possibilities for designing efficient quantum algorithms.

Optical soliton pulses offer many applications within optical communication systems, but by definition a soliton is only subjected to second-order anomalous group-velocity-dispersion; an understanding of higher-order dispersion is necessary for practical implementation of soliton pulses. A numerical model of a waveguide was developed using the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, with parameters set to ensure the input pulse energy would be equal to the fundamental soliton energy. Higher-order group-velocity-dispersion was gradually increased, for various temporal widths and waveguide dispersions. A minimum pulse duration of 100 fs was determined to be necessary for fundamental soliton pulse propagation in practical photonic crystal waveguides.

We study a generalized double Jaynes–Cummings (JC) model where two entangled pairs of two-level atoms interact indirectly. We show that there exist initial states of the qubit system so that two entangled pairs are available at all times. In particular, the minimum entanglement in the pairs as a function of the initial state is studied. Finally, we extend our findings to a model consisting of multi-mode atom–cavity interactions. We use a non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (QSD) equation to obtain the steady-state density matrix for the qubits. We show that the multi-mode model also displays dynamical preservation of entanglement.

We develop and illustrate methods to compute all single particle potentials that underlie the logistic map, x↦sx(1−x) for 02. We illustrate the methods numerically for the cases s=5/2 and s=10/3.

We study entanglement generation in a pair of qubits interacting with an initially correlated system. Using time-independent perturbation theory and the adiabatic theorem, we show conditions under which the qubits become entangled as the joint system evolves into the ground state of the interacting theory. We then apply these results to the case of qubits interacting with a scalar quantum field. We study three different variations of this setup; a quantum field subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions, a quantum field interacting with a classical potential, and a quantum field that starts in a thermal state.

We study the entanglement of a pair of qubits resulting from their interaction with a bosonic system. Here we restrict our discussion to the case where the set of operators acting on different qubits commute. A special class of interactions inducing entanglement in an initially separable two qubit system is discussed. Our results apply to the case where the initial state of the bosonic system is represented by a statistical mixture of states with fixed particle number.

We investigate quasi-Hermitian quantum mechanics in phase space using standard deformation quantization methods: Groenewold star products and Wigner transforms. We focus on imaginary Liouville theory as a representative example where exact results are easily obtained. We emphasize spatially periodic solutions, compute various distribution functions and phase-space metrics, and explore the relationships between them.

Mean field approximation treats only coherent aspects of the evolution of a Bose-Einstein condensate. However, in many experiments some atoms scatter out of the condensate. We study a semianalytic model of two counterpropagating atomic Gaussian wave packets incorporating the dynamics of incoherent scattering processes. Within the model we can treat processes of the elastic collision of atoms into the initially empty modes, and observe how, with growing occupation, the bosonic enhancement is slowly kicking in. A condition for the bosonic enhancement effect is found in terms of relevant parameters. Scattered atoms form a squeezed state. Not only are we able to calculate the dynamics of mode occupation, but also the full statistics of scattered atoms.

Relativistic nuclear recoil effects are studied for antiprotonic and muonic atoms. The generalization of the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian including vacuum polarization is presented. Previous treatments are corrected, and the result for the 2S(1/2)-2P(1/2) splitting in muonic hydrogen is updated.

The matrix element of a bound electron interacting with the nucleus through exchange of a Z boson is studied for the gauge-invariant case of 2s{sub 1/2}-2p{sub 1/2} transitions in hydrogenic ions. The QED radiative correction to the matrix element, which is -{alpha}/2{pi} in lowest order, is calculated to all orders in Z{alpha} using exact propagators. Previous calculations of the first-order binding correction are confirmed both analytically and by fitting the exact function at low Z. Consequences for the interpretation of parity nonconservation in cesium are discussed.