We present an analysis of the relaxation dynamics of finite-size topological qubits in contact with a thermal bath. Using a continuous-time Monte Carlo method, we explicitly compute the low-temperature nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code on finite lattices. In contrast to the size-independent bound predicted for the toric code in the thermodynamic limit, we identify a low-temperature regime on finite lattices below a size-dependent crossover temperature with nontrivial finite-size and temperature scaling of the relaxation time. We demonstrate how this nontrivial finite-size scaling is governed by the scaling of topologically nontrivial two-dimensional classical random walks. The transition out of this low-temperature regime defines a dynamical finite-size crossover temperature that scales inversely with the log of the system size, in agreement with a crossover temperature defined from equilibrium properties. We find that both the finite-size and finite-temperature scaling are stronger in the low-temperature regime than above the crossover temperature. Since this finite-temperature scaling competes with the scaling of the robustness to unitary perturbations, this analysis may elucidate the scaling of memory lifetimes of possible physical realizations of topological qubits.
We present an analysis of the relaxation dynamics of finite-size topological qubits in contact with a thermal bath. Using a continuous-time Monte Carlo method, we explicitly compute the low-temperature nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code on finite lattices. In contrast to the size-independent bound predicted for the toric code in the thermodynamic limit, we identify a low-temperature regime on finite lattices below a size-dependent crossover temperature with nontrivial finite-size and temperature scaling of the relaxation time. We demonstrate how this nontrivial finite-size scaling is governed by the scaling of topologically nontrivial two-dimensional classical random walks. The transition out of this low-temperature regime defines a dynamical finite-size crossover temperature that scales inversely with the log of the system size, in agreement with a crossover temperature defined from equilibrium properties. We find that both the finite-size and finite-temperature scaling are stronger in the low-temperature regime than above the crossover temperature. Since this finite-temperature scaling competes with the scaling of the robustness to unitary perturbations, this analysis may elucidate the scaling of memory lifetimes of possible physical realizations of topological qubits.
The ability to store quantum information without recourse to constant feedback processes would yield a significant advantage for future implementations of quantum information processing. In this Letter, limitations of the prototypical model, the Toric code in two dimensions, are elucidated along with a sufficient condition for overcoming these limitations. Specifically, the interplay between Hamiltonian perturbations and dynamically occurring noise is considered as a system in its ground state is brought into contact with a thermal reservoir. This proves that when utilizing the Toric code on N2 qubits in a 2D lattice as a quantum memory, the information cannot be stored for a time O(N). In contrast, the 2D Ising model protects classical information against the described noise model for exponentially long times. The results also have implications for the robustness of braiding operations in topological quantum computation.
Alexei Kitaev's toric code is a rich model, that has birthed and stimulated the development of topological quantum computing, error correction, and field theory. It was also the first example of a quantum error correcting code that could resiliently store quantum information in certain types of noisy environments without the need for active error correction. Unfortunately, the toric code loses much of its power as a noise-resilient quantum memory at any finite temperature. Many of the problems with the toric code at finite temperature are likewise shared among its cousin stabilizer codes. These problems can be traced to the proliferation of stringlike ``defects'' in these codes at finite temperature. The aim of this thesis is then twofold.First, I characterize both numerically and theoretically the failure modes of the toric code at finite temperature with fairly modest bath assumptions. I achieve this by numerically sampling the nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code using a continuous time monte carlo algorithm. From this analysis, I was able to derive an exact expression for the low and high temperature dynamics of the toric code, as well as a regime over which the toric code is ``most'' stable to noise.Secondly, by leveraging the results of this analysis, I construct algorithms that aim to suppress these noise channels. These algorithms are broadly separated into measurement-free and few-measurement protocols. The measurement-free algorithms are reminiscent of dynamical-decoupling pulse sequences, applied in parallel or in serial to a target stabilizer code, and are entirely unitary. I find that measurement-free algorithms can provide a constant factor increase to the lifetime of a large class of stabilizer codes at finite temperature. The few-measurement protocols are more complex, but I provide evidence that they can provide a threshold for the toric code with asymptotically fewer measurements than was previously known to be achievable.
We have studied the dynamics of a generalized toric code based on qudits at finite temperature by finding the master equation coupling the code's degrees of freedom to a thermal bath. We find that in the case of qutrits, new types of anyons and thermal processes appear that are forbidden for qubits. These include creation, annihilation and diffusion throughout the system code. It is possible to solve the master equation in a short-time regime and find expressions for the decay rates as a function of the dimension d of the qudits. While we provide an explicit proof that the system relaxes to the Gibbs state for arbitrary qudits, we also prove that above a certain crossover temperature the qutrits' initial decay rate is smaller than the original case for qubits. Surprisingly, this behavior only happens for qutrits and not for other qudits with d > 3.
We analyze scaling behaviors of simulated annealing carried out on various classical systems with topological order, obtained as appropriate limits of the toric code in two and three dimensions. We first consider the three-dimensional Z2 (Ising) lattice gauge model, which exhibits a continuous topological phase transition at finite temperature. We show that a generalized Kibble-Zurek scaling ansatz applies to this transition, in spite of the absence of a local order parameter. We find perimeter-law scaling of the magnitude of a nonlocal order parameter (defined using Wilson loops) and a dynamic exponent $z=2.70\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03$, the latter in good agreement with previous results for the equilibrium dynamics (autocorrelations). We then study systems where (topological) order forms only at zero temperature---the Ising chain, the two-dimensional Z2 gauge model, and a three-dimensional star model (another variant of the Z2 gauge model). In these systems the correlation length diverges exponentially, in a way that is nonsmooth as a finite-size system approaches the zero temperature state. We show that the Kibble-Zurek theory does not apply in any of these systems. Instead, the dynamics can be understood in terms of diffusion and annihilation of topological defects, which we use to formulate a scaling theory in good agreement with our simulation results. We also discuss the effect of open boundaries where defect annihilation competes with a faster process of evaporation at the surface.
Ultracold atoms have revolutionized atomic and condensed matter physics. In addition to having clean, controllable Hamiltonians, ultracold atoms are near-perfect realizations of isolated quantum systems, in which weak environmental coupling can be neglected on experimental time scales. This opens new opportunities to explore these systems not just in thermal equilibrium, but out of equilibrium as well. In this dissertation, we investigate some properties of closed quantum systems, utilizing a combination of numerical and analytical techniques. We begin by applying full configuration-interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) to the Fermi polaron [1], which we use as a test bed to improve the algorithm. In addition to adapting standard QMC techniques, we introduce novel controlled approximations that allow mitigation of the sign problem and simulation directly in the thermodynamic limit. We also contrast the sign problem of FCIQMC with that of more standard techniques, focusing on FCIQMC’s capacity to work in a second quantized determinant space. Next, we discuss nonequilibrium dynamics near a quantum critical point, focusing on the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising (TFI) chain. We show that the TFI dynamics exhibit critical scaling, within which the spin correlations exhibit qualitatively athermal behavior. We provide strong numerical evidence for the universality of dynamic scaling by utilizing time-dependent matrix product states to simulate a nonintegrable model in the same equilibrium universality class. As this non-integrable model has been realized experimentally [2], we investigate the robustness of our predictions against the presence of open boundary conditions and disorder. We find that the qualitatively athermal correlations remain visible, although other phenomena such as even/odd effects become relevant within the finite size scaling theory. Finally, we investigate the properties of the integrable TFI model upon varying the strength of a non-integrable perturbation, attempting to understand the finite-size scaling behavior of the eigenstate thermalization crossover. We numerically estimate iii the crossover scale of this perturbation strength using exact diagonalization, finding that the crossover scale decreases strongly with system size, and analytically provide a lower bound on the finite-size scaling of this crossover. However, we are unable to solve for the thermodynamic limit of this crossover; doing so will require larger systems and more comprehensive theory.
We propose and study a model of a quantum memory that features self-correcting properties and a lifetime growing arbitrarily with system size at nonzero temperature. This is achieved by locally coupling a two-dimensional $L\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}L$ toric code to a three-dimensional (3D) bath of bosons hopping on a cubic lattice. When the stabilizer operators of the toric code are coupled to the displacement operator of the bosons, we solve the model exactly via a polaron transformation and show that the energy penalty to create anyons grows linearly with L. When the stabilizer operators of the toric code are coupled to the bosonic density operator, we use perturbation theory to show that the energy penalty for anyons scales with ln(L). For a given error model, these energy penalties lead to a lifetime of the stored quantum information growing, respectively, exponentially and polynomially with L. Furthermore, we show how to choose an appropriate coupling scheme in order to hinder the hopping of anyons (and not only their creation) with energy barriers that are of the same order as the anyon creation gaps. We argue that a toric code coupled to a 3D Heisenberg ferromagnet realizes our model in its low-energy sector. Finally, we discuss the delicate issue of the stability of topological order in the presence of perturbations. While we do not derive a rigorous proof of topological order, we present heuristic arguments suggesting that topological order remains intact when perturbative operators acting on the toric code spins are coupled to the bosonic environment.