Fidelity relations in an array of neutral atom qubits: Experimental validation of control noise
Deon Janse van Rensburg, Robert de Keijzer, Rogier Venderbosch, Yuri van der Werf, Jesus del Pozo Mellado, Rianne S. Lous, Edgar J. D. Vredenbregt, S. J. J. M. F. Kokkelmans
Noise is a hindering factor for current-era quantum computers. In this study, we experimentally validate the theoretical relationships between amplitude noise of the control signal and qubit state fidelity. The experiment comprises a 10 × 10 site optical tweezer array stochastically loaded with single rubidium-85 atoms. A global microwave field is used to manipulate the state of the hyperfine qubits. With precise control of the time-dependent amplitude of the microwave drive, we apply control signals featuring artificial noise. We systematically analyze the impact of various noise profiles on the fidelity distribution of the quantum states. The measured fidelities are compared against theoretical predictions made using the stochastic Schrödinger equation. Our results show a good agreement between the experimentally measured and theoretically predicted results. This validation is consequential, as the model provides critical information on noise identification and optimal control protocols in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ)-era quantum systems.
Noise is a hindering factor for current-era quantum computers. In this study, we experimentally validate the theoretical relationships between amplitude noise of the control signal and qubit state fidelity. The experiment comprises a 10 × 10 site optical tweezer array stochastically loaded with single rubidium-85 atoms. A global microwave field is used to manipulate the state of the hyperfine qubits. With precise control of the time-dependent amplitude of the microwave drive, we apply control signals featuring artificial noise. We systematically analyze the impact of various noise profiles on the fidelity distribution of the quantum states. The measured fidelities are compared against theoretical predictions made using the stochastic Schrödinger equation. Our results show a good agreement between the experimentally measured and theoretically predicted results. This validation is consequential, as the model provides critical information on noise identification and optimal control protocols in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ)-era quantum systems.
Meaningful quantum computing is currently bottlenecked by the error rates of current generation Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. To improve the fidelity of the quantum logic gates, it is essential to recognize the contributions of various sources of errors, including background noise. In this work, we investigate the effects of noise when applied to superconducting qubit control pulses to observe the dependency of the gate fidelity with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We propose a model on how the noise of the control electronics interacts with the qubit system and demonstrate a method for characterizing the noise environment of the qubit control.
ABSTRACT: Recent research has tackled the problem of mitigating noise present in quantum computers in the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era to enable precise computations and to benefit from the intrinsic properties of quantum mechanics. For this matter, an important task is the characterization of qubits available in quantum devices so as to provide insights on how to reduce noise on the final output of a quantum circuit. Characterization comprises analysis of noise sources and this information can be used to reduce noise with methods such as Cycle Benchmarking, Quantum Error Mitigation, Quantum Error Correction and others. Here, we study optimization of pulses through Quantum Optimal Control (QOC) to obtain higher gate fidelity. We will explore an algorithm that performs calibration on specific quantum gates by implementing optimized pulse schedules to subsequently use the algorithm for analysis of noise sources. Using calibrated gates as input, several benchmarking protocols, including pulse noise extrapolation, leakage analysis from quantum optimal control, and machine learning based classification of qubit readout, will be tested to extract precise information on how noise influences the analyzed qubits. We will explain and discuss different techniques for obtaining properties of qubits and quantum computers. We will implement state discrimination with a Machine Learning (ML) focus to analyze readout errors caused by factors such as cross-talk and leakage into higher quantum states. We will perform noise fitting of optimized pulses and evaluate the effectiveness of important quantum algorithms at the pulse level.
Environmental noise affecting controlled quantum systems is typically described by a dissipative Lindblad equation, which captures the system's average state through the density matrix ρ . One approach to deriving this equation involves a stochastic operator evolving under white noise in the Schrödinger equation; however, white noise fails to accurately depict real-world noise profiles, where lower frequencies often dominate. This study proposes a method to determine the of qubit fidelities in significant stochastic Schrödinger equation scenarios, with qubits evolving under more realistic noise profiles such as noise. This method enables the prediction of the mean, variance, and higher-order moments of qubit fidelities, offering insights crucial for assessing permissible noise levels in prospective quantum computing systems and guiding decisions about control systems procurement. Additionally, these methodologies are essential for optimizing qubit state control affected by classical control system noise.
The effective use of current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices is often limited by the noise which is caused by interaction with the environment and affects the fidelity of quantum gates. In transmon qubit systems, the quantum gate fidelity can be improved by applying control pulses that can minimize the effects of the environmental noise. In this work, we employ physics-guided quantum optimal control strategies to design optimal pulses driving quantum gates on superconducting qubit systems. We test our results by conducting experiments on the IBM quantum hardware using their OpenPulse API. We compare the performance of our pulse-optimized quantum gates against the default quantum gates and show that the optimized pulses improve the fidelity of the quantum gates, in particular the single-qubit gates. We discuss the challenges we encountered in our work and point to possible future improvements.
Quantum devices in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era are highly susceptible to different types of quantum noise, which directly impact the reliability of experimental results. This work provides a characterization of error behavior arising from quantum noises on IBM's superconducting quantum processor, offering practical insights for algorithm design, benchmarking, and error-mitigation strategies on a real superconducting quantum processor in the NISQ era. The study begins with the measurement of the basis state, without applying any gate, to quantify state-preparation and measurement (SPAM) errors. Additionally, the errors are further quantified due to the application of single-qubit Pauli-X, two-qubit CNOT gate and other multi-qubit Controlled-X gates. Each circuit was executed with 1024 shots, and the percentage error between the expected and observed outputs was computed. The results show that the single-qubit Pauli-X gate exhibits relatively low errors in comparison with the two-qubit CNOT gate, whereas other multi-qubit Controlled-X gates lead to significantly higher deviations. This work also analyzes the noise effect of a fourqubit Controlled-X gate being implemented using a three-qubit Controlled-X gate with an extra auxiliary qubit, and the result shows a significant reduction in the error rate.
Optical tweezer arrays 1,2 have transformed atomic and molecular physics, now forming the backbone for a range of leading experiments in quantum computing 3–8 , simulation 1,9–12 , and metrology 13–15 . Typical experiments trap tens to hundreds of atomic qubits, and recently systems with around one thousand atoms were realized without defining qubits or demonstrating coherent control 16–18 . However, scaling to thousands of atomic qubits with long coherence times, low-loss, and high-fidelity imaging is an outstanding challenge and critical for progress in quantum science, particularly towards quantum error correction 19,20 . Here, we experimentally realize an array of optical tweezers trapping over 6,100 neutral atoms in around 12,000 sites, simultaneously surpassing state-of-the-art performance for several metrics that underpin the success of the platform. Specifically, while scaling to such a large number of atoms, we demonstrate a coherence time of 12.6(1) seconds, a record for hyperfine qubits in an optical tweezer array. We show room-temperature trapping lifetimes of ~ 23 minutes, enabling record-high imaging survival of 99.98952(1)% with an imaging fidelity of over 99.99%. We present a plan for zone-based quantum computing 5,21 and demonstrate necessary coherence-preserving qubit transport and pick-up/drop-off operations on large spatial scales, characterized through interleaved randomized benchmarking. Our results, along with recent developments 8,22–24 , indicate that universal quantum computing and quantum error correction with thousands to tens of thousands of physical qubits could be a near-term prospect.