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A site-resolved two-dimensional quantum simulator with hundreds of trapped ions

Nature volume 630, pages 613–618 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

A large qubit capacity and an individual readout capability are two crucial requirements for large-scale quantum computing and simulation1. As one of the leading physical platforms for quantum information processing, the ion trap has achieved a quantum simulation of tens of ions with site-resolved readout in a one-dimensional Paul trap2,3,4 and of hundreds of ions with global observables in a two-dimensional (2D) Penning trap5,6. However, integrating these two features into a single system is still very challenging. Here we report the stable trapping of 512 ions in a 2D Wigner crystal and the sideband cooling of their transverse motion. We demonstrate the quantum simulation of long-range quantum Ising models with tunable coupling strengths and patterns, with or without frustration, using 300 ions. Enabled by the site resolution in the single-shot measurement, we observe rich spatial correlation patterns in the quasi-adiabatically prepared ground states, which allows us to verify quantum simulation results by comparing the measured two-spin correlations with the calculated collective phonon modes and with classical simulated annealing. We further probe the quench dynamics of the Ising model in a transverse field to demonstrate quantum sampling tasks. Our work paves the way for simulating classically intractable quantum dynamics and for running noisy intermediate-scale quantum algorithms7,8 using 2D ion trap quantum simulators.

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Fig. 1: Experimental setup and 2D ion crystals.
Fig. 2: Spatial correlation patterns in quasi-adiabatically prepared ground states for N = 300 qubits.
Fig. 3: Quantum simulation of a frustrated Ising model.
Fig. 4: Quench dynamics and quantum sampling.

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Data availability

The data supporting this work are available at Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25572603 (ref. 48).

Code availability

The codes supporting this work are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Innovation Programme for Quantum Science and Technology (grant nos. 2021ZD0301601 and 2021ZD0301605), the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Programme and the Ministry of Education of China. L.-M.D. acknowledges in addition support from the New Cornerstone Science Foundation through the New Cornerstone Investigator Programme. Y.-K.W. acknowledges in addition support from the Tsinghua University Dushi Programme and the Tsinghua University Start-up Fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Quantum Information, Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China

    S.-A. Guo, Y.-K. Wu, J. Ye, L. Zhang, Y. Wang, R.-Y. Yan, Y.-J. Yi, Y.-L. Xu, Y.-H. Hou, Y.-Z. Xu, C. Zhang, B.-X. Qi, Z.-C. Zhou, L. He & L.-M. Duan

  2. Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei, P.R. China

    Y.-K. Wu, Z.-C. Zhou, L. He & L.-M. Duan

  3. HYQ Co., Ltd, Beijing, P.R. China

    W.-Q. Lian, R. Yao, Y. Wang, B.-W. Li & W.-X. Guo

  4. New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Beijing, P.R. China

    L.-M. Duan

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  1. S.-A. Guo
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  2. Y.-K. Wu
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Contributions

L.-M.D. proposed and supervised the project. S.-A.G., J.Y., L.Z., W.-Q.L., R.Y., Y.W., R.-Y.Y., Y.-J.Y., Y.-L.X., B.-W.L., Y.-H.H., Y.-Z.X., W.-X.G., C.Z., B.-X.Q., Z.-C.Z. and L.H. carried out the experiment. S.-A.G., Y.-K.W. and J.Y. analysed the data and did the associated theory. Y.-K.W., S.-A.G., and L.-M.D. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L.-M. Duan.

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Competing interests

W.-Q.L., R.Y., Y.W., B.-W.L. and W.-X.G. are affiliated with HYQ Co. Y.-K.W., W.-Q.L., R.Y., Y.W., B.-W.L., Y.-Z.X., W.-X.G., B.-X.Q., Z.-C.Z., L.H. and L.-M.D. hold shares with HYQ Co. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Guo, SA., Wu, YK., Ye, J. et al. A site-resolved two-dimensional quantum simulator with hundreds of trapped ions. Nature 630, 613–618 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07459-0

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