New concepts are described for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) implementations of spin ensemble quantum computing in one and two dimensions. Similarities and differences between ensemble and pure state quantum computing are discussed by using a Liouville space formalism based on polarization and single transition operators. The introduction of an observer spin, that is coupled to the spins carrying the quantum bits, allows a mapping of the states of a quantum computer on a set of transitions between energy levels. This is spectroscopically favorable compared to a mapping on the energy levels themselves. Two complementary parallelization schemes for quantum computing are presented: one exploits the parallel processing feature inherent in multidimensional NMR, while the other employs mixed superposition states represented by operators in Liouville space. The spin swap operation, introduced in this paper, allows a convenient extension of quantum computing to spin systems where not all spin–spin couplings are resolved. The concepts are illustrated by implementations of logic operations and identities consisting of a sequence of basic logic gate operations.
New concepts are described for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) implementations of spin ensemble quantum computing in one and two dimensions. Similarities and differences between ensemble and pure state quantum computing are discussed by using a Liouville space formalism based on polarization and single transition operators. The introduction of an observer spin, that is coupled to the spins carrying the quantum bits, allows a mapping of the states of a quantum computer on a set of transitions between energy levels. This is spectroscopically favorable compared to a mapping on the energy levels themselves. Two complementary parallelization schemes for quantum computing are presented: one exploits the parallel processing feature inherent in multidimensional NMR, while the other employs mixed superposition states represented by operators in Liouville space. The spin swap operation, introduced in this paper, allows a convenient extension of quantum computing to spin systems where not all spin–spin couplings are resolved. The concepts are illustrated by implementations of logic operations and identities consisting of a sequence of basic logic gate operations.
Quantum computers are able to operate on coherent superpositions of states, and to isolate a single global property of the set of computed quantities via interference. In principle, this permits them to solve certain problems exponentially faster thana classical computer, but not one has yet succeeded in implementing a true quantum computer on more than two quantum bits. Recently, however, it has been found that an ensemble of independent and identical quantum computers can perform mots of the same feats than a single quantum computer could, while at the same time bringing massive classical parallelism to bear on its computations. Such an ensemble quantum computer can be realized, to a limited extent, by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on ordinary liquids at room temperature and pressure. This simple implementation depends on special kinds of mixed states, called pseudo-pure states, whose preparation entails a loss of signal that is exponential in the number of spins. While this would appear to limit such an implementation to ca. 8-10 spins in the foreseeable future, NMR spectroscopy has now permitted the first experimental demonstrations of all the basic features of quantum computing. We claim, moreover, that the product operator formalism, on which the theory of NM R spectroscopy is based, provides an efficient framework within which to analyze algorithms and decoherence effects in quantum computing more generally. This is illustrated by presenting our recent experimentally implementation of a quantum error correcting code.
Quantum computing by nuclear magnetic resonance using pseudopure spin states is bound by the maximal speed of quantum computing algorithms operating on pure states. In contrast to these quantum computing algorithms, a novel algorithm for searching an unsorted database is presented here that operates on truly mixed states in spin Liouville space. It provides an exponential speedup over Grover's quantum search algorithm with the sensitivity scaling exponentially with the number of spins, as for pseudopure state implementations. The minimal decoherence time required is exponentially shorter than that for Grover's algorithm.
This article reviews recent work done by us an some initial steps towards the implementation of quantum computation using liquid state NMR. We describe how special kinds of states required for such computation (called pseudo-pure states) can be created from a thermal ensemble of spins. We demonstrate the implementation of several quantum logic gates through one- and two-dimensional NMR methods, using transition- and spin- selective pulses. Finally, we discuss the implementation of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm using NMR.
Standard CMOS circuits are expected to be no longer able to satisfy nowadays demand for higher performances and lower power consumption. This commits to look for new solutions. Quantum computation, whose fundamental quantity of information is the qubit, is a thoroughly new way of thinking to electronics. There are at least two main reasons for which quantum computing is expected to broaden computation horizons. First, specific algorithms can be engineered, manipulating the probability amplitudes of different states, to exploit the quantum superposition principle and achieve high parallelism. Second, it is expected to be spontaneously suitable to simulate complex quantum physical systems, as large molecules. Quantum computing requires the cooperation of several scientific fields. The leading idea has been to highlight the operations and algorithms a quantum computer must be able to perform and, then, to propose a hardware solution, providing the rigorous physical treatment mandatory for a deep understanding and for an appropriate modelling, something which is hard to find in nowadays literature. Thus, the first chapters address the quantum algorithms, focusing on Grover's search algorithm and deriving, from fundamentals, the corresponding circuit. The latter is then described in Quantum Assembly (QASM), which can be seen as the quantum equivalent of VHDL, and simulated on IBM Q Experience. The following chapters deal with a possible physical implementation of quantum processors: the encoding of qubits on nuclear spins in diamagnetic molecules. When a static magnetic field is applied to a spin-1/2 nucleus, two well-defined energy eigenstates arise, as a result of the Zeeman effect. Each of them can be associated with a qubit eigenstate. Thanks to nuclear magnetic resonance principles, the probability with which one of the two eigenstates is measured can be handled by the superposition of a radio frequency field at the resonance frequency of the nucleus. This can be interpreted as a rotation of the spin, and so of the qubit, about the RF field and enables the execution of single qubit quantum gates, since they are simple rotations of the state vector. The two-qubit CNOT gate is obtained through the interaction of spins via J-coupling. Considering that these gates constitute a universal set, every quantum algorithm can theoretically be run on an NMR processor. Different nuclei have different resonant frequencies, but the addressing of a specific spin can be achieved also in homonuclear molecules, since the resonant frequency depends also on the nuclear environment (nuclear shielding). While unwanted J-couplings can be removed thanks to refocusing, spin decoherence and relaxation phenomena force an upper limit to the allowed timescale. A main advantage of NMR is that this timescale is long, even at room temperature. Conversely, scalability is still an issue. A simple heteronuclear MATLAB model, based on the relations derived from first principles in the thesis, is proposed to prove the feasibility of NMR quantum processors. The input technological parameters, as chemical shielding and J-coupling, can be computed resorting on ORCA, or obtained from experimental data. The model, able to run a universal set of quantum gates and simple algorithms, can be useful to find an optimal operating point as a compromise between molecule physical properties and the quantities which can be controlled by nowadays NMR instrumentation.