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Quantum simulation and many-body physics with hundreds of trapped ions

John Bollinger, National Institute of Standards and Technology

(Session 1 : Thursday from 8:30 - 9:15)

Abstract. Many different quantum information protocols have been demonstrated with small linear chains of ions in rf (Paul) traps. I will describe our efforts to extend some of the techniques developed with small linear chains of ions to larger two-dimensional crystals of hundreds of ions formed in a Penning trap [1]. Our qubit (or spin) is the 124 GHz electron spin-flip transition in the ground state of Be+ in the 4.5 Tesla magnetic field of the trap. We control the spins with an effective transverse magnetic field obtained with 124 GHz microwaves [2]. By employing spin-dependent optical dipole forces, we engineer long-range Ising interactions (both ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic) between the ion qubits [3]. We benchmark the interactions through measurements of mean-field spin precession [4]. I will describe the types of Ising interactions we can readily implement and discuss the prospects for simulating the transverse Ising model with hundreds of qubits. [1] T. Mitchell, J. J. Bollinger, D. Dubin, X. Huang, W. M. Itano, and R. Baughman, Science 282, 1290 (1998). [2] M. J. Biercuk, H. Uys, A. P. VanDevender, N. Shiga, W. M. Itano, and J. J. Bollinger, Quantum Information and Computation 9, 920 (2009). [3] K. Kim, M.-S. Chang, R. Islam, S. Korenblit, L.-M. Duan, and C. Monroe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 120502 (2009). [4] J. W. Britton, B. C. Sawyer, A. C. Keith, C.-C. J. Wang, J. K. Freericks, H. Uys, M. J. Biercuk, and J. J. Bollinger, Nature 484, 489 (2012).