Coupled superconducting qubits: A theoretical overview.

Margareta Wallquist

Yu-xi Liu, Franco Nori

After a brief review on superconducting qubits, we overview our recent studies on controllable couplings in superconducting flux qubits via a variable frequency (ac) magnetic flux. In particular: (i) we describe how to use a variable frequency magnetic flux to control the coupling between two inductively coupled flux qubits, (ii) Based on this approach, using a variable frequency controlled coupling, we present a proposal on how to achieve scalable quantum computing circuits with flux qubits. We also explain why superconducting qubits can be coupled and addressed as trapped ions, as well as describe how to utilize dressed states to couple and decouple qubits and the data bus.

Franco Nori

Superconducting (SC) circuits can behave like atoms making transitions between a few energy levels. Such circuits can test quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales and be used to conduct atomic-physics experiments on a silicon chip. This talk overviews a few of our theoretical studies on SC circuits and quantum information processing (QIP) including: SC qubits for single photon generation and for lasing; controllable couplings among qubits; how to increase the coherence time of qubits using a capacitor in parallel to one of the qubit junctions; hybrid circuits involving both charge and flux qubits; testing Bell’s inequality in SC circuits; generation of GHZ states; quantum tomography in SC circuits; preparation of macroscopic quantum superposition states of a cavity field via coupling to a SC qubit; generation of nonclassical photon states using a SC qubit in a microcavity; scalable quantum computing with SC qubits; and information processing with SC qubits in a microwave field. Controllable couplings between qubits can be achieved either directly or indirectly. This can be done with and without coupler circuits, and with and without data-buses like EM fields in cavities (e.g., we will describe both the variable-frequency magnetic flux approach and also a generalized double-resonance approach that we introduced). It is also possible to “turn a quantum bug into a feature” by using microscopic defects as qubits, and the macroscopic junction as a controller of it. We have also studied ways to implement radically different approaches to QIP by using “cluster states” in SC circuits.

A. J. Berkley, S. A. Govorkov, M. C. Thom +1 more

Jonas Bylander

This article reviews recent progress in superconducting quantum bits, including major improvements in design and coherence times. It first provides an overview of the basics of modern superconducting qubit devices and their architectures before turning to single-qubit Hamiltonians and reference frames. It then examines how decoherence originates with noise and shows how to characterize and mitigate this noise using magnetic-resonance-type pulse sequences. It also describes the first-generation superconducting qubits and the now-dominant circuit-quantum electrodynamics architecture in which qubits are coupled to microwave resonators. Finally, it considers several improved designs of superconducting qubits in which coherence times have been significantly improved by minimizing the sensitivity to fluctuating impurities and the coupling to external modes.

Roson Nongthombam, Urmimala Dewan, Amarendra K. Sarma

Superconducting qubits, realized by incorporating Josephson junctions into superconducting circuits, behave as artificial atoms with anharmonic energy spectra and can be precisely controlled and measured using microwave cavities within the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED). Since its emergence in the early 2000s, cQED has established superconducting qubits as leading candidates for scalable quantum devices and has enabled the exploration of hybrid quantum systems that integrate disparate physical platformsThis review surveys superconducting hybrid quantum electromechanical systems in which mechanical resonators are coupled to superconducting qubits, with a focus on two widely used qubit platforms: the transmon and the fluxonium. We provide an overview of the underlying coupling mechanisms arising from interactions through the phase and charge degrees of freedom of the qubit, and discuss how these mechanisms give rise to both longitudinal and transverse qubit-mechanical interactions. We further review extensions of electromechanical platforms to electro-optomechanical architectures, in which optical cavities are integrated to enable coherent interfacing between superconducting circuits and optical photons. This review aims to present a unified framework and perspective on qubit-mechanical and qubit-mechanical-optical hybrid systems in superconducting quantum technologies and applications related to sensors.