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arXiv:quant-ph/0205193

Experimental Quantum Computation with Nuclear Spins in Liquid Solution

Lieven M. K. Vandersypen

Published May 31, 2002• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We have taken significant steps towards the realization of a practical quantum computer: using nuclear spins and magnetic resonance techniques at room temperature, we provided proof of principle of quantum computing in a series of experiments which culminated in the implementation of the simplest instance of Shor's quantum algorithm for prime factorization (15=3x5), using a seven-spin molecule. This algorithm achieves an exponential advantage over the best known classical factoring algorithms and its implementation represents a milestone in the experimental exploration of quantum computation. These remarkable successes have been made possible by the synthesis of suitable molecules and the development of many novel techniques for initialization, coherent control and readout of the state of multiple coupled nuclear spins. Furthermore, we devised and implemented a model to simulate both unitary and decoherence processes in these systems, in order to study and quantify the impact of various technological as well as fundamental sources of errors. In summary, this work has given us a much needed practical appreciation of what it takes to build a quantum computer. While liquid NMR quantum computing has well-understood scaling limitations, many of the techniques that originated from this research may find use in other, perhaps more scalable quantum computer implementations.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0205193

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We have taken significant steps towards the realization of a practical quantum computer: using nuclear spins and magnetic resonance techniques at room temperature, we provided proof of principle of quantum computing in a series of experiments which culminated in the implementation of the simplest instance of Shor's quantum algorithm for prime factorization (15=3x5), using a seven-spin molecule. This algorithm achieves an exponential advantage over the best known classical factoring algorithms and its implementation represents a milestone in the experimental exploration of quantum computation. These remarkable successes have been made possible by the synthesis of suitable molecules and the development of many novel techniques for initialization, coherent control and readout of the state of multiple coupled nuclear spins. Furthermore, we devised and implemented a model to simulate both unitary and decoherence processes in these systems, in order to study and quantify the impact of various technological as well as fundamental sources of errors. In summary, this work has given us a much needed practical appreciation of what it takes to build a quantum computer. While liquid NMR quantum computing has well-understood scaling limitations, many of the techniques that originated from this research may find use in other, perhaps more scalable quantum computer implementations.
Quantum computation offers the extraordinary promise of solving mathematical and physical problems which are simply beyond the reach of classical computers. However, the experimental realization of quantum computers is extremely challenging, because of the need to initialize, manipulate and measure the state of a set of coupled quantum systems while maintaining fragile quantum coherence. In this thesis work, we have taken significant steps towards the realization of a practical quantum computer: using nuclear spins and magnetic resonance techniques at room temperature, we provided proof of principle of quantum computing in a series of experiments which culminated in the implementation of the simplest instance of Shor’s quantum algorithm for prime factorization (15 = 3 × 5), using a seven-spin molecule. This algorithm achieves an exponential advantage over the best known classical factoring algorithms and its implementation represents a milestone in the experimental exploration of quantum computation. These remarkable successes have been made possible by the synthesis of suitable molecules and the development of many novel techniques for initialization, coherent control and readout of the state of multiple coupled nuclear spins. Furthermore, we devised and implemented a model to simulate both unitary and decoherence processes in these systems, in order to study and quantify the impact of various technological as well as fundamental sources of errors. In summary, this work has given us a much needed practical appreciation of what it takes to build a quantum computer. Furthermore, while liquid NMR quantum computing has well-understood scaling limitations, many of the techniques that originated from this research may find use in other, perhaps more scalable quantum computer implementations.
Quantum computers can potentially solve real and relevant mathematical and physical problems that are intractable using classical machines. However, the experimental realization of quantum computers represents a significant challenge, because several opposing experimental requirements must be met. A set of coupled quantum bits must be manipulated and measured while coherently retaining entangled quantum states. Yet the manipulation and measurement processes almost inevitably lead to the decay of these fragile states. This thesis work takes significant steps towards building a practical quantum computer using nuclear spins and liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. I present experimental results for proof of principle of quantum computing in a series of small implementations of quantum algorithms, culminating in the implementation of an adiabatic quantum optimization algorithm. The performance of adiabatic algorithms compared with classical optimization methods is unknown, but small quantum computers could provide crucial insight into answering this question. Furthermore, adiabatic algorithms also shed new light on the usefulness of quantum resources for computational tasks and hence they represent an important class of algorithms. The second part of this thesis presents several methods developed for improving the control over NMR quantum computing experiments. Even though liquid state NMR quantum computers have well known and accepted scaling limitations, the developed tools are of general use. I will show how several tools are directly transferable to two other implementations of quantum computers; one using optical methods and the other using loops of superconducting material. This work provides insight into what is needed to build a practical quantum computer, and delivers several tools and techniques that will be useful in future large-scale implementations of quantum computers.
I will describe our recent implementation of a five-qubit NMR quantum computer capable of executing a quantum algorithm for order-finding. This is the first demonstration of a quantum algorithm with the structure of Shor's algorithm for efficient prime factorization, a key step in the experimental realization of quantum computers because its structure appears to be common to all quantum algorithms that achieve an exponential speed-up over their classical counterparts. The experiment was made possible by the synthesis of a 5-spin molecule with remarkable NMR properties, and by the introduction of new techniques for state initialization and quantum control.
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.
Rapid developments in quantum information processing have been made, and remarkable achievements have been obtained in recent years, both in theory and experiments. Coherent control of nuclear spin dynamics is a powerful tool for the experimental implementation of quantum schemes in liquid and solid nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system, especially in liquid-state NMR. Compared with other quantum information processing systems, the NMR platform has the advantages such as the long coherence time, the precise manipulation, and well-developed quantum control techniques, which make it possible to accurately control a quantum system with up to 12-qubits. Extensive applications of liquid-state NMR spectroscopy in quantum information processing such as quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum simulation have been thoroughly studied over half a century. This article introduces the general principles of NMR quantum information processing, and reviews the new-developed techniques. The review will also include the recent achievements of the experimental realization of quantum algorithms for machine learning, quantum simulations for high energy physics, and topological order in NMR. We also discuss the limitation and prospect of liquid-state NMR spectroscopy and the solid-state NMR systems as quantum computing in the article.
A quantum computer is a device that processes information in a quantum-mechanically coherent fashion. In principle, it can exploit coherent quantum interference and entanglement to perform computations, such as factoring large numbers or searching an unsorted database, more rapidly than classical computers. Noise, decoherence, and manufacturing problems make constructing large scale quantum computers difficult. Ion traps and optical cavities offer promising experimental approaches, but no quantum algorithm has yet been implemented with those systems. On the other hand, because of their natural isolation from the environment, nuclear spins are particularly good 'quantum bits', and their use for quantum computation is possible by applying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques in an unconventional manner. Here, we report on the experimental implementation of a quantum algorithm using NMR to solve a purely mathematical problem in fewer steps than is possible classically. Our simple quantum computer can determine the type of an unknown function using fewer function 'calls' than is possible using a classical computer.