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arXiv:quant-ph/0002085 · Fortschritte der Physik

NMR Quantum Computation: A Critical Evaluation

Jonathan A. Jones

Published Sep 1, 2000• 78 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques have produced some spectacular successes in the construction of small quantum computers, and NMR is currently by far the leading technology for quantum computation. There are, however, a number of significant problems with any attempt to scale up the technology to produce computers of any useful size. While it is probable that some of these will be successfully sidestepped during the next few years, it is unlikely that they will all be solved; thus current liquid state NMR techniques are unlikely to provide a viable technology for practical quantum computation.

DOI
10.1002/1521-3978(200009)48:9/11<909::aid-prop909>3.0.co;2-2

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Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) provides an experimental setting to explore physical implementations of quantum information processing (QIP). Here we introduce the basic background for understanding applications of NMR to QIP and explain their current successes, limitations and potential. NMR spectroscopy is well known for its wealth of diverse coherent manipulations of spin dynamics. Ideas and instrumentation from liquid state NMR spectroscopy have been used to experiment with QIP. This approach has carried the field to a complexity of about 10 qubits, a small number for quantum computation but large enough for observing and better understanding the complexity of the quantum world. While liquid state NMR is the only present-day technology about to reach this number of qubits, further increases in complexity will require new methods. We sketch one direction leading towards a scalable quantum computer using spin 1/2 particles. The next step of which is a solid state NMR-based QIP capable of reaching 10-30 qubits.
Nuclear magnetic resonance is arguably both the best available quantum technology for implementing simple quantum computing experiments and the worst technology for building large scale quantum computers that has ever been seriously put forward. After a few years of rapid growth, leading to an implementation of Shor's quantum factoring algorithm in a seven-spin system, the field started to reach its natural limits and further progress became challenging. Rather than pursuing more complex algorithms on larger systems, interest has now largely moved into developing techniques for the precise and efficient manipulation of spin states with the aim of developing methods that can be applied in other more scalable technologies and within conventional NMR. However, the user friendliness of NMR implementations means that they remain popular for proof-of-principle demonstrations of simple quantum information protocols.
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In this article we consider nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as an example of a quantum technology; we consider in particular detail the implementation of quantum computers using NMR. We begin by outlining the physical principles underlying NMR, and give an introduction to the quantum mechanics involved. We next discuss the general characteristics of quantum technologies and the ways and extent to which these characteristics are expressed in NMR. We then give an introduction to the subject of quantum computation and its implementation using NMR. Finally, we describe some spectroscopy techniques which also exploit the quantum nature of NMR.