Topological quantum information processing relies on adiabatic braiding of non-Abelian quasiparticles. Performing the braiding operations in finite time introduces transitions out of the ground-state manifold and deviations from the non-Abelian Berry phase. We show that these errors can be eliminated by suitably designed counterdiabatic correction terms in the Hamiltonian. We implement the resulting shortcuts to adiabaticity for simple protocols of non-Abelian braiding and show that the error suppression can be substantial even for approximate realizations of the counterdiabatic terms.
Topological quantum information processing relies on adiabatic braiding of non-Abelian quasiparticles. Performing the braiding operations in finite time introduces transitions out of the ground-state manifold and deviations from the non-Abelian Berry phase. We show that these errors can be eliminated by suitably designed counterdiabatic correction terms in the Hamiltonian. We implement the resulting shortcuts to adiabaticity for simple protocols of non-Abelian braiding and show that the error suppression can be substantial even for approximate realizations of the counterdiabatic terms.
If one could be built, a quantum computer would be capable of storing and manipulating quantum states with sufficient accuracy to carry out computations that no classical computer can do (most notably factoring integers in polynomial time). The greatest obstacle to building such a device is the problem of error and decoherence. Classical computers can exploit the physical robustness of ordered states to protect classical information (as in, for example, the magnetically ordered state of a hard drive). Remarkably, a type of quantum order known as topological order can, in principle, play the same role for quantum information. The best studied topologically ordered states are quantum Hall states. These states arise when a two-dimensional electron gas is placed in a strong magnetic field and cooled to low temperatures. Under the right conditions, the electrons condense into an incompressible quantum liquid whose excitations are particle-like objects with fractional charge (quasiparticles). Certain quantum Hall states are thought to be non Abelian. This means that when a finite number of quasiparticles are present and fixed in space there is a low energy Hilbert space with finite dimension, rather than a unique state. Unitary operations can then be carried out on this Hilbert space by adiabatically dragging quasiparticles around one another so that their world-lines sweep out braids in 2+1 dimensional space time. A quantum computer which stores quantum information in this Hilbert space and computes by braiding is known as a topological quantum computer. In this thesis I review our work on determining precisely how one would carry out a computation on a topological quantum computer. I focus on the so-called Fibonacci anyons--quasiparticles which may exist in the experimentally observed quantum Hall state at Landau level filling fraction ν = 12/5. I give explicit prescriptions for encoding qubits (quantum bits) using Fibonacci anyons, and show how one would carry out a universal set of quantum gates (the quantum analogs of Boolean logic gates) by braiding them. I then focus in particular on my work developing algorithms for performing brute force searches over the space of braids to find braids which produce unitary operations close to any desired operation. These brute force searches are a crucial part of our quantum gate construction, and I show that by using a so-called "load balanced" bidirectional search I can find braids which approximate any desired operation to an accuracy of 1 part in 10 5 . I then turn to my work calculating the Berry's phase obtained when quasiparticles are moved around one another in the Moore-Read state, a non Abelian state generally believed to describe the ν = 5/2 quantum Hall effect. This work is done using variational Monte Carlo, a method which allows one to numerically evaluate the Berry's phase for finite size systems. By exploiting certain properties of the Moore-Read state I have been able to study systems consisting of as many as 150 electrons. In so doing I have verified the conjectured connection between the Berry's phase produced by physically moving quasiparticles around one another and the mathematical phase one obtains by simply analytically continuing the quasiparticle coordinates. An added benefit of these calculations is that we can deduce the length scale which determines the size of the quasiparticles. This length scale dictates how far apart the quasiparticles must be in order to prevent errors when they are used for topological quantum computation.
In topological quantum computing, unitary operations on qubits are performed by adiabatic braiding of nonAbelian quasiparticles and are protected from local environmental perturbations. Due to the condition of adiabaticity, a perfectly accurate topological quantum computer appears to be an infinitely slow one. By using the Pontryagin’s maximum principle, here we show that such topologically protected quantum gates can be implemented exactly in finite times through optimal diabatic pulses. In our implementation, modifications to the device Hamiltonian are avoided. We study the effects of calibration errors and external noise and show that our optimally fast pulse shapes are also remarkably robust. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we furthermore find more robust, continuous protocols with similar performance.
Topological phases of matter are a potential platform for the storage and processing of quantum information with intrinsic error rates that decrease exponentially with inverse temperature and with the length scales of the system, such as the distance between quasiparticles. However, it is less well-understood how error rates depend on the speed with which non-Abelian quasiparticles are braided. In general, diabatic corrections to the holonomy or Berry's matrix vanish at least inversely with the length of time for the braid, with faster decay occurring as the time-dependence is made smoother. We show that such corrections will not affect quantum information encoded in topological degrees of freedom, unless they involve the creation of topologically nontrivial quasiparticles. Moreover, we show how measurements that detect unintentionally created quasiparticles can be used to control this source of error.
Topological quantum computing seeks to store and manipulate information in a protected manner using topological phases of matter. Information encoded in the degenerate state space of pairs of non-Abelian anyons or defects is robust to local perturbations, reducing its susceptiblity to environmental errors and potentially providing a scalable approach to quantum computing. However, topological quantum computing faces significant challenges, not least of which is identifying an experimentally accessible platform supporting non-Abelian topological physics. In this thesis, we critically analyze topological quantum computing with Majorana zero modes, non-Abelian defects of a topological superconductor. We identify intrinsic error sources for Majorana-based systems and propose quantum computing architectures that minimize their effects. Additionally, we consider a new approach for realizing and detecting non-Abelian topological defects in fractional Chern insulators. Topological quantum computing is predicated on the idea that braiding non-Abelian anyons adiabatically can implement quantum gates fault tolerantly. However, any braiding experiment will necessarily depart from the strict adiabatic limit. We begin by analyzing the nature of diabatic errors for anyon braiding, paying particular attention to how such errors scale with braiding time. We find that diabatic errors are unfavorably large and worryingly sensitive to details of the time evolution. We present a measurement-based correction protocol for such errors, and illustrate its application in a particular Majorana-based qubit design. We next propose designs for Majorana-based qubits operated entirely by a measurement-based protocol, thereby avoiding the diabatic errors discussed above. Our designs can be scaled into large two dimensional arrays amenable to long-term quantum computing goals, whose core components are testable in near-term devices. These qubits are robust to quasiparticle poisoning, anticipated to be one of the dominant error sources coupling to Majorana zero modes. We demonstrate that our designs support topologically protected Clifford operations and can be augmented to a universal gate set without requiring additional control parameters.While topological protection greatly suppresses errors, residual coupling to noise limits the lifetimes of our proposed Majorana-based qubits. We analyze the dephasing times for our quasiparticle-poisoning-protected qubits by calculating their charge distribution using a particle number-conserving formalism. We find that fluctuations in the electromagnetic environment couple to an exponentially suppressed topological dipole moment. We estimate dephasing times due to 1/f noise, thermal quasiparticle excitations, and phonons for different qubit sizes.The residual errors discussed above will necessarily require error correction for a sufficiently long quantum computation. We develop physically motivated noise models for Majorana-based qubits that can be used to analyze the performance of a quantum error correcting code. We apply this noise model to estimate pseudo-thresholds for a small subsystem code, identifying the relative importance of difference error processes from a fault tolerance perspective. Our results emphasize the necessity of suppressing long-lived quasiparticle excitations that can spread across the code.Finally, we turn our attention to a different platform that could host non-Abelian topological defects: fractional Chern insulators in graphene. We study the edge states of fractional Chern insulators using the field theory of fractional quantum Hall edges supplemented with a symmetry action. We find that lattice symmetries impose a quantized momentum difference for edge electrons in a fractional state of a C=2 Chern band. This momentum difference can be used to selectively contact the different edge states, thereby allowing detection of topological defects in the bulk with a standard four terminal measurement. Our proposal could be implemented in graphene subject to an artificially patterned lattice.
In topological quantum computing, unitary operations on qubits are performed by adiabatic braiding of non-Abelian quasiparticles, such as Majorana zero modes, and are protected from local environmental perturbations. In the adiabatic regime, with timescales set by the inverse gap of the system, the errors can be made arbitrarily small by performing the process more slowly. To enhance the performance of quantum information processing with Majorana zero modes, we apply the theory of optimal control to the diabatic dynamics of Majorana-based qubits. While we sacrifice complete topological protection, we impose constraints on the optimal protocol to take advantage of the nonlocal nature of topological information and increase the robustness of our gates. By using the Pontryagin's maximum principle, we show that robust equivalent gates to perfect adiabatic braiding can be implemented in finite times through optimal pulses. In our implementation, modifications to the device Hamiltonian are avoided. Focusing on thermally isolated systems, we study the effects of calibration errors and external white and 1/f (pink) noise on Majorana-based gates. While a noise-induced antiadiabatic behavior, where a slower process creates more diabatic excitations, prohibits indefinite enhancement of the robustness of the adiabatic scheme, our fast optimal protocols exhibit remarkable stability to noise and have the potential to significantly enhance the practical performance of Majorana-based information processing.
Qubits in topological quantum computation are built from non-Abelian anyons. Adiabatic braiding of anyons is exploited as topologically protected logical gate operations. Thus, the adiabaticity upon which the notion of quantum statistics is defined plays a fundamental role in defining the non-Abelian anyons. We study the nonadiabatic effects in braidings of Ising-type anyons, namely, Majorana fermions in topological superconductors, using the formalism of time-dependent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. Using this formalism, we consider nonadiabatic corrections to non-Abelian statistics from (1) tunneling splitting of anyons imposing an additional dynamical phase to the transformation of ground states and (2) transitions to excited states that are potentially destructive to non-Abelian statistics since the nonlocal fermion occupation can be spoiled by such processes. However, if the bound states are localized and being braided together with the anyons, non-Abelian statistics can be recovered once the definition of Majorana operators is appropriately generalized taking into account the fermion parity in these states. On the other hand, if the excited states are extended over the whole system and form a continuum, the notion of local fermion parity no longer holds. We then quantitatively characterize the errors introduced in this situation.