The propagation of excitation along a one-dimensional chain of atoms is simulated by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The physical system used as an analog quantum computer is a nucleus of ${}^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$ (spin 7/2) in a liquid-crystalline matrix. First, a pseuodpure state of the spin system is prepared. Then, the Hamiltonian of migration is simulated by using a special seven-frequency pulse. The dynamics is monitored by following the transfer of population from one of the eight spin energy levels to the others.
The propagation of excitation along a one-dimensional chain of atoms is simulated by means of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The physical system used as an analog quantum computer is a nucleus of 133Cs (spin 7/2) in a liquid-crystalline matrix. First, a pseuodpure state of the spin system is prepared. Then, the Hamiltonian of migration is simulated by using a special seven-frequency pulse. The dynamics is monitored by following the transfer of population from one of the eight spin energy levels to the others.
The procedure for simulating the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum linked to the spin system of a molecule for a certain nucleus entails diagonalizing the associated Hamiltonian matrix. As the dimensions of said matrix grow exponentially with respect to the spin system's atom count, the calculation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors marks the performance of the overall process. The aim of this paper is to provide a formalization of the complete procedure of the simulation of a spin system's NMR spectrum while also explaining how to diagonalize the Hamiltonian matrix with a quantum computer, thus enhancing the overall process's performance. Two well-known quantum algorithms for calculating the eigenvalues of a matrix are analyzed and put to the test in this context: quantum phase estimation and the variational quantum eigensolver. Additionally, we present simulated results for the later approach while also addressing the hypothetical noise found in a physical quantum computer.
Quantum simulations, where controllable quantum systems are used to simulate other quantum systems, originally proposed by Richard Feynman, are one of the most remarkable applications of quantum information science. Compared to computation, quantum simulations require much less number of qubits for the m to be practical. In the work described in this thesis, we have performed a few quantum simulations of small quantum systems using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR) techniques. These simulations have been used to experimentally demonstrate the underlying interesting quantum protocols. All the experiments presented have been carried out using liquid-state or liquid crystal NMR. Numerical pulse optimization techniques have been utilized in some of the experiments, to achieve better control over the spin systems.
The first chapter contains “Introduction” to quantum information processing, NMR, and numerical pulse optimization techniques. In chapter 2, we describe quantum simulation of a 3-spin Heisenberg-XY spin chain having only nearest neighbour interactions. Recently, spin chains having pre-engineered short-range interactions have been proposed to efficiently transfer quantum information between different parts of a quantum information processor. Other important proposals involving these spin chains include generating entangled states and universal quantum computation. However, such engineered interactions do not occur naturally in any system. In such a scenario, the experimental viability of these proposals can be tested by simulating the spin chains in other controllable quantum systems. In this work, we first theoretically study the time evolution of bipartite and tripartite entanglement measures for a 3-spin open ended XY spin chain. Then, by simulating the XY interactions in a 3-spin nuclear spin system, we experimentally generate, (i)a bipartite maximally(pseudo-)entangled state(Bell state) between end qubits, and(ii) multipartite(pseudo-)entangled states(Wand GHZ states),starting from separable pseudo-pure states. Bell state has been generated by using only the natural unitary evolution of the XY spin chain. W-state and GHZ-state have been generated by applying a single-qubit rotation to the second qubit, and a global rotation of all the three qubits respectively after the unitary evolution of the spin chain.
In chapter 3, we simulate a 3-spin quantum transverse Ising spin system in a triangular configuration, and show that multipartite quantum correlations can be used to distinguish between the frustrated and non-frustrated regimes in the ground state of this spin system. The ground state of the spin system has been prepared by using adiabatic state preparation method. Gradient ascent pulse engineering technique has been utilized to efficiently realize the adiabatic evolution of the spin system. To analyse the experimental ground state of the system, we employ two different multipartite quantum correlation measures, generated from monogamy studies of bipartite quantum correlations.
Chapter 4 contains a digital…
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.
Quantum computers offer the possibility of solving some problems more efficiently than their classical counterparts. The current forerunner in the experimental demonstration of quantum algorithms is Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Known for its implementations at liquid state, NMR quantum computing consists of computing on nuclear spins. In the liquid crystal state, dipolar couplings are available, offering an increased clock frequency and a faster recycling of algorithms. Here investigated is the cost at which this comes, namely, a more complicated internal Hamiltonian, making the system harder to characterize and harder to control. In this thesis I present new methods for characterizing the Hamiltonian of dipolar coupled spin systems, and I report experimental results of characterizing an oriented 6-spin system. I then present methods and results concerning the quantum optimal control of this same spin system. Finally, I present experiments and simulations regarding the certification of computational quantum gates implemented in that same dipolar coupled spin system.
An alternative method of preparing pseudopure states for NMR quantum computing is presented. The method involves population transfer by the use of a multifrequency excitation pulse. The system studied was a spin-7/2 nucleus (133Cs) in a liquid-crystalline environment. It is shown that all eight pseudopure quantum states for this three-qubit system can be prepared by using only 1--3 pulses, while the intensities of the relevant peaks increase by a factor of up to 4 compared to the equilibrium NMR spectrum. A comparison of the intensity enhancement by population transfer for quadrupolar nuclei and that for coupled spin-1/2 systems is given.