Non-Equilibrium Steady States and Dynamics in a Tapped-Ion Quantum Simulator with Engineered Dissipation

量子模拟已经成为探索和解决科学、工程和计算难题的一种很有前途的技术。到目前为止，大多数量子模拟实验都集中在模拟与环境不相互作用的量子系统。发展未来量子技术的一个主要挑战是解决量子系统与其环境之间不可避免的耦合，这种耦合往往会导致系统不必要的退相干。克服这一挑战的一个有希望的方法是用人工消散来对抗自然消散。这个项目的主要目标是找到耗散和相互作用的组合，这些组合可以导致新的物理发现，或者促进量子信息处理任务，例如产生有用的纠缠态。该小组将把这个项目的重点放在一个使用囚禁离子的特定实验平台上，这是量子模拟和量子计算的领先平台。该项目还将通过本科生研究、新量子工程课程的开发、面向当地高中和社区大学生的公共量子讲座以及为面向STEM的用户提供一个具有视觉吸引力的互动平台来演示囚禁离子量子模拟的在线项目，促进新一代具有量子技术专长的学生的教育。在技术上，该项目旨在促进对具有远程相互作用的开放量子系统中非平衡稳态和动力学的理论理解，并指导不久的将来工程耗散中的囚禁离子实验，以实现新的动力学、相变和态准备。这项拟议的研究也将与其他实验平台相关，包括极性分子、电路QED和耦合到多模腔的原子。因此，它是研究开放量子多体系统的实验界和理论界之间的重要桥梁。该小组将研究四个密切相关的主题：(1)具有长程相互作用和局域或非局域耗散的系统的局域性及其击穿；(2)长程相互作用自旋的稳态相和相变；(3)通过工程耗散制备多体纠缠态和热态；(4)利用工程耗散对抗囚禁离子量子比特上的自然耗散。重要的是，该小组还将为囚禁离子实验者提出实用的实验设置，包括两个密切合作的小组，以研究在每个主题下发现的新物理。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quantum simulation has become a promising technology for exploring and solving hard scientific, engineering, and computational problems. So far, most quantum simulation experiments are focused on simulating quantum systems that do not interact with their environment. A major challenge in developing future quantum technologies is to address the inevitable coupling between the quantum system and its environment that often leads to unwanted decoherence of the system. A promising way to overcome this challenge is to fight natural dissipation with engineered dissipation. The main goal of this project is to find combinations of dissipation and interaction that can lead to new physical discoveries, or facilitate quantum information processing tasks, such as the generation of useful entangled states. The group will focus this project on a particular experimental platform that uses trapped ions, which is a leading platform for both quantum simulation and quantum computing. This project will also facilitate the education of a new generation of students with expertise in quantum technologies via a combined effort in undergraduate student research, the development of a new quantum engineering program, public quantum lectures to local high-school and community-college students, and an online project for providing STEM-oriented users a visually attractive and interactive platform for demonstrating quantum simulation with trapped ions.Technically, this project aims to both advance the theoretical understanding of non-equilibrium steady states and dynamics in open quantum systems with long-range interactions and guide near-future trapped-ion experiments in engineering dissipation for achieving novel dynamics, phase transitions, and state preparation. The proposed research will also be relevant to other experimental platforms, including polar molecules, circuit QED, and atoms coupled to multi-mode cavities. Thus it serves as a critical bridge between the experimental and theoretical communities working on open quantum many-body systems. The group will study four closely related topics: (1) Locality and its breakdown for systems with long-range interactions and local or nonlocal dissipation; (2) Steady-state phases and phase transitions for long-range interacting spins; (3) Preparation of many-body entangled states and thermal states via engineered dissipation; (4) Fighting against natural dissipation on trapped-ion qubits with engineered dissipation. Importantly, the group will also propose practical experimental setups for trapped-ion experimentalists, including two groups who are close collaborators, to investigate novel physics discovered under each topic.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.