Improving the understanding of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems such as gases of interacting atoms or electrons is one of the most important challenges in modern condensed matter physics, materials research, and chemistry.Enormous progress has been made in the past decades in developing both classical and quantum approaches to calculate, simulate, and experimentally probe the properties of such systems.In this work, we use a combination of classical and quantum methods to experimentally explore the properties of an interacting quantum gas by creating experimental realizations of continuous matrix product states-a class of states that has proven extremely powerful as a variational ansatz for numerical simulations.By systematically preparing and probing these states using a circuit quantum electrodynamics system, we experimentally determine a good approximation to the ground-state wave function of the Lieb-Liniger Hamiltonian, which describes an interacting Bose gas in one dimension.Since the simulated Hamiltonian is encoded in the measurement observable rather than the controlled quantum system, this approach has the potential to apply to a variety of models including those involving multicomponent interacting fields.Our findings also hint at the possibility of experimentally exploring general properties of matrix product states and entanglement theory.The scheme presented here is applicable to a broad range of systems exploiting strong and tunable light-matter interactions.
Improving the understanding of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems such as gases of interacting atoms or electrons is one of the most important challenges in modern condensed matter physics, materials research, and chemistry.Enormous progress has been made in the past decades in developing both classical and quantum approaches to calculate, simulate, and experimentally probe the properties of such systems.In this work, we use a combination of classical and quantum methods to experimentally explore the properties of an interacting quantum gas by creating experimental realizations of continuous matrix product states-a class of states that has proven extremely powerful as a variational ansatz for numerical simulations.By systematically preparing and probing these states using a circuit quantum electrodynamics system, we experimentally determine a good approximation to the ground-state wave function of the Lieb-Liniger Hamiltonian, which describes an interacting Bose gas in one dimension.Since the simulated Hamiltonian is encoded in the measurement observable rather than the controlled quantum system, this approach has the potential to apply to a variety of models including those involving multicomponent interacting fields.Our findings also hint at the possibility of experimentally exploring general properties of matrix product states and entanglement theory.The scheme presented here is applicable to a broad range of systems exploiting strong and tunable light-matter interactions.
The study of quantum computations that can be simulated efficiently classically is of interest for numerous reasons. On a fundamental level, such an investigation sheds light on the intrinsic computational power that is harnessed in quantum mechanics as compared to classical physics. More practically, understanding which quantum computations do not offer any speed-ups over classical computation provides insights in where (not) to look for novel quantum algorithmic primitives. On the other hand, classical simulation of many-body systems is a challenging task, as the dimension of the Hilbert space scales with the number of particles. Therefore, to understand the properties of the systems, suitable approximation methods need to be employed. The lectures will be divided into two parts. In the first part we discuss classical simulation of quantum computation from several perspectives. We review a number of well-known examples of classically simulatable quantum computations, such as the Gottesman-Knill theorem, matchgate simulation and tensor contraction methods. We further discuss simulation methods that are centred on classical sampling methods (‘weak simulation’), and illustrate how these techniques outperform methods that rely on the exact computation of measurement probabilities (‘strong simulation’). The second part focuses on "Entanglement and variational wavefunctions in quantum many body physics". We review the idea of entanglement in quantum many-body systems and how it helps us to understand the success of numerical renormalization group methods. In particular we will discuss a few variational wave-function based methods for simulating strongly correlated quantum systems, which include (1) matrix product states (2) multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (3) projected entangled pair states and (4) continuous matrix product states for quantum field theories.
We present a way of constructing continuous matrix product states (cMPS) for coupled fields. The cMPS is a variational ansatz for the ground state of quantum field theories in one dimension. Our proposed scheme is based on a physical interpretation in which the cMPS class can be produced by means of a dissipative dynamic of a system interacting with a bath. We study the case of coupled bosonic fields. We test the method with previous DMRG results in coupled Lieb-Liniger models. Besides, we discuss a novel application for characterizing the Luttinger liquid theory emerging in the low-energy regime of these theories. Finally, we propose a circuit QED architecture as a quantum simulator for coupled fields.
The study of quantum computations that can be simulated efficiently classically is of interest for numerous reasons. On a fundamental level, such an investigation sheds light on the intrinsic computational power that is harnessed in quantum mechanics as compared to classical physics. More practically, understanding which quantum computations do not offer any speed-ups over classical computation provides insights in where (not) to look for novel quantum algorithmic primitives. On the other hand, classical simulation of many-body systems is a challenging task, as the dimension of the Hilbert space scales with the number of particles. Therefore, to understand the properties of the systems, suitable approximation methods need to be employed. The lectures will be divided into two parts. In the first part we discuss classical simulation of quantum computation from several perspectives. We review a number of well-known examples of classically simulatable quantum computations, such as the Gottesman-Knill theorem, matchgate simulation and tensor contraction methods. We further discuss simulation methods that are centred on classical sampling methods (‘weak simulation’), and illustrate how these techniques outperform methods that rely on the exact computation of measurement probabilities (‘strong simulation’). The second part focuses on "Entanglement and variational wavefunctions in quantum many body physics". We review the idea of entanglement in quantum many-body systems and how it helps us to understand the success of numerical renormalization group methods. In particular we will discuss a few variational wave-function based methods for simulating strongly correlated quantum systems, which include (1) matrix product states (2) multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (3) projected entangled pair states and (4) continuous matrix product states for quantum field theories.
Predicting critical temperature in quantum simulators for high-Tc superconductivity: the matrix product state plus mean field approach
Quantum simulation based on ultra cold atomic lattice gases is one of the most promising platforms to investigate high-Tc superconductivity beyond the limited capabilities of quantum many body numerics on classical computers. Yet, despite enormous progress since the field's inception, realizing a high-Tc superconducting state still remains out of reach. The present work lays the groundwork to purpose the recently proposed, and already partly realized, mixed-dimensional (mixD) models, towards this end. These systems offer the proven capability to realize very high pairing energies while retaining appreciable mobility of pairs. We specifically investigate the potential of 2D mixD-models with anisotropic tunneling, using the matrix product state plus mean field theory (MPS+MF) for fermions, and show that these models may enter a high-Tc superconducting phase. These simulations in turn are based on a comprehensive characterization of the 1D mixD-systems, which are the sub-units of which the 2D system is comprized. In this, we cover the range of currently experimentally relevant system sizes, and establish practical heuristics to determine when finite\hyp size effects preclude the use of a 1D mixD-system to build the 2D ones.
Most non-relativistic interacting quantum many-body systems, such as atomic and molecular ensembles or materials, are naturally described in terms of continuous-space Hamiltonians. The simulation of their ground-state properties on digital quantum computers is challenging because current algorithms require discretization, which usually amounts to choosing a finite basis set, inevitably introducing errors. In this work, we propose an alternative, discretization-free approach that combines classical and quantum resources in a global variational ansatz, optimized using the framework of variational Monte Carlo. We introduce both purely quantum as well as hybrid quantum-classical ansatze and benchmark them on three paradigmatic continuous-space systems that are either very challenging or beyond the reach of current quantum approaches: the one-dimensional quantum rotor model, a system of Helium-3 particles in one and two dimensions, and the two-dimensional homogeneous electron gas. We embed relevant constraints such as the antisymmetry of fermionic wave functions directly into the ansatz. Many-body correlations are introduced via backflow transformations represented by parameterized quantum circuits. We demonstrate that the accuracy of the simulation can be systematically improved by increasing the number of circuit parameters and study the effects of shot noise. Furthermore, we show that the hybrid ansatz improves the ground-state energies obtained using the purely classical wave function.
(English) In recent years, the evolution of quantum technologies has resulted in an unprecedented control over individual quantum particles and many-body systems. This remarkable progress has given rise to a new era, marked by the convergence of classical and quantum methodologies to investigate fundamental questions concerning the nature of quantum matter, improving our understanding of the role of entanglement in solid-state systems or the mechanisms behind high-energy physics. From analog quantum simulators to digital quantum computers, these advancements hold potential across diverse domains. This thesis explores the interplay between classical and quantum methods in understanding topological phases of matter. We concentrate on three distinct directions: non-conventional topological superconductors, interaction-induced topological phases in ultracold atom quantum simulators, and applications of variational quantum algorithms. Each trajectory relies on the combination of different techniques with the aim of understanding and characterizing topological phenomena in different settings. Exploring non-conventional topological superconductors involves extending the paradigmatic Kitaev chain model by incorporating additional terms in the Hamiltonian such as long-range interactions and quasi-periodic potentials. This investigation is relevant to better understand the impact of real-world conditions on the both the topological and localization properties of systems hosting non-local Majorana modes, which are promising candidates for topological quantum computation. In the realm of interacting systems, we explore the realization of interaction-induced topological phases in systems of ultracold atoms in optical lattices, both in one and two dimensions. The remarkable control and versatility of such platforms enable the simulation of both theoretical topological models and strongly correlated physics. Notably, the interplay between interactions and topology can give rise to intriguing phenomena, such as delocalized fractional charges and gapless topological phases,challenging existing intuition. We employ advanced numerical methods based on tensor networks to benchmark the experimental proposals that open the door to the realization and detection of novel many-body phases of matter, including topological quantum critical points and a higher-order topological Peierls insulator in Bose-Hubbard models with long-range interactions. Variational quantum algorithms, conversely, have the potential to efficiently tackle a wide range of problems, including ground state search, phase classification or accessing topological invariants. Despite current limitations in trainability and scalability, these hybrid classical-quantum algorithms provide practical insights into current quantum hardware capabilities and can inspire future architectures. We explore the application of variational quantum algorithms to shed light on topological phenomena, raising questions about their ability to discern topological phase transitions and compute topological invariants in situations where classical approaches fail. This thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of distinct approaches to topological quantum matter by leveraging quantum technologies and quantum-inspired classical algorithms. Our results not only advance our understanding of quantum systems but also pave the way for the realization and discovery of novel physics extending to quantum information processing, materials science, and beyond.