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arXiv:2609.03032

Approximate cubic phase states in a trapped ion

C. Ventura-Velázquez, Juan Mauricio Torres

quant-phSubmitted Sep 2, 2026• Announced Sep 4, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Universal quantum computation with continuous variables cannot be attained solely with a set of Gaussian operations, it requires the addition of a non-Gaussian element, at least of third order in the quadrature operators, such as the cubic phase state. In this work, we present a method to generate a quantum state in the vibrational mode of a trapped ion that exhibits characteristics compatible with the cubic phase state, such as the distinctive oscillating pattern in its Wigner function. This state emerges from the nonlinear Jaynes-Cummings interaction native to the trapped-ion model, and under the assumption of an initial coherent vibrational state with a large occupation number. Consequently, the evolved vibrational state approximates the cubic phase state with high fidelity, and we use the variance of a nonlinear combination of the quadratures to characterize it. Finally, we provide an analytical expression for its cubicity that shows the high performance of the approximate vibrational cubic phase state.

Comments
8 pages, 7 figures

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Universal quantum computation with continuous variables cannot be attained solely with a set of Gaussian operations, it requires the addition of a non-Gaussian element, at least of third order in the quadrature operators, such as the cubic phase state. In this work, we present a method to generate a quantum state in the vibrational mode of a trapped ion that exhibits characteristics compatible with the cubic phase state, such as the distinctive oscillating pattern in its Wigner function. This state emerges from the nonlinear Jaynes-Cummings interaction native to the trapped-ion model, and under the assumption of an initial coherent vibrational state with a large occupation number. Consequently, the evolved vibrational state approximates the cubic phase state with high fidelity, and we use the variance of a nonlinear combination of the quadratures to characterize it. Finally, we provide an analytical expression for its cubicity that shows the high performance of the approximate vibrational cubic phase state.
The motional modes of trapped ions are promising candidates for continuous-variable (CV) quantum computation and simulation. However, to achieve a universal gate set for CV quantum computation, anharmonic nonlinear unitaries are required. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a protocol that allows us to approximate the cubic phase gate. By numerically optimizing the phase angles and amplitudes of a set of state-dependent force pulses, we demonstrate the cubic phase gate for both vacuum and low-ααα coherent state inputs and verify its performance. Our protocol can also be extended to approximate other nonlinear unitaries.
Universal quantum computing with continuous variables requires non-Gaussian resources, in addition to a Gaussian set of operations.A known resource enabling universal quantum computation is the cubic phase state, a non-Gaussian state whose experimental implementation has so far remained elusive.In this paper, we introduce two Gaussian conversion protocols that allow for the conversion of a non-Gaussian state that has been achieved experimentally, namely the trisqueezed state [Chang et al., Phys.Rev. X 10, 011011 (2020)], to a cubic phase state.The first protocol is deterministic and it involves active (inline) squeezing, achieving large fidelities that saturate the bound for deterministic Gaussian protocols.The second protocol is probabilistic and it involves an auxiliary squeezed state, thus removing the necessity of inline squeezing but still maintaining significant success probabilities and fidelities even larger than for the deterministic case.The success of these protocols provides strong evidence for using trisqueezed states as resources for universal quantum computation.
The generation of non-Gaussian states of bosonic systems described by continuous quantum degrees of freedom is of interest in a variety of contexts, ranging from quantum foundations to computation and communication. A crucial feature of genuine non-Gaussian states is that they cannot be described in general with a non-negative Wignerquasi-probability distribution. In particular, this feature is equivalent to contextuality and it underpins all attempts at attaining quantum computational advantage in a universal setting. In this thesis, the generation of Wigner-negative states is addressed, pursuing two approaches. First, in an optomechanical-like setting, we develop schemes to generate Wigner-negative states of two massive mechanical systems, in turn correlated such that they also feature entanglement, another genuine quantum hallmark. These schemes are based on driven-dissipative systems where dissipation is properly engineered by taking advantage of linear-and-quadratic optomechanical interactions. We address the robustness of these schemes when uncontrollable noisy channels are included in the dynamics, proving that their resilience is comparable to Gaussian schemes that have already been implemented experimentally. Second, considering in particular circuit QED systems and trapped ions, we propose a method to engineer a set of Hamiltonian evolutions that are universal in terms of single-mode state preparation. This method is based on a driven quantum Rabi model, where the desired evolution is effectively imprinted on a continuous-variable degree of freedom by its interaction with a properly driven two-level system. We demonstrate the universality of such approach by simulating the generation of multi-squeezed and other states, including the celebrated cubic-phase state. We also consider the effect of noise in realistic settings, showing in particular that in systems involving superconducting qubits, the generation of tri-squeezed states --- a universal resource for continuous-variable quantum computation which we prove to display larger Wigner negativities with respect to Fock and cubic-phase states for the same energy --- is within experimental reach.
The cubic phase gate is the only non-Gaussian element of universal continuous-variable quantum computation. Its Fock amplitudes are known in closed form only when the input is a Fock state. For a Gaussian input the usual route is to build the cubic quadrature in a truncated Fock space and exponentiate it, which alters the generator before the exponential is taken. A closed form is obtained here for every pure single-mode Gaussian input, with the squeezing along any quadrature axis and with arbitrary displacement and boost. It is a finite combination of the Airy function and its derivative, and the argument is shared by all Fock indices, so a whole Fock profile costs two Airy evaluations. A recurrence is also derived that builds each coefficient from the four preceding ones, together with the regime in which it is stable. Evaluating the closed form at the weak nonlinearities of current experiments requires care, since its terms grow large and alternate in sign. The precision this demands is quantified, and the truncated construction is benchmarked against the exact result, whose error at cutoffs in common use is found to be of the same size as the quantity being computed.
Abstract The cubic phase state constitutes a nonlinear resource that is essential for universal quantum computing protocols. However, constructing such non-classical states faces many challenges. In this work, we present a protocol for generating a cubic phase state with high fidelity. The protocol is based on a set of Gaussian operations assisted by a detection operation. To find the proper set of parameters that results in both high fidelity and high detection probability, we provide a numerical multiparameter optimization. We investigate a broad range of target states and study how parameter imperfections influence fidelity.
We propose a deterministic, measurement-free implementation of a cubic phase gate for continuous-variable quantum information processing. In our scheme, the applications of displacement and squeezing operations allow us to engineer the effective evolution of the quantum state propagating through an optical Kerr nonlinearity. Under appropriate conditions, we show that the input state evolves according to a cubic phase Hamiltonian, and we find that the cubic phase gate error decreases inverse quartically with the amount of quadrature squeezing, even in the presence of linear loss. We also show how our scheme can be adapted to deterministically generate a nonclassical approximate cubic phase state with high fidelity using a ratio of native nonlinearity to linear loss of only 10^{-4}, indicating that our approach may be experimentally viable in the near term even on all-optical platforms, e.g., using quantum solitons in pulsed nonlinear nanophotonics.