Quantum simulation of the transverse field Ising model with trapped atomic ions

ORAL

Abstract

We simulate an fully-connected ferromagnetic Ising model in a transverse magnetic field using a chain of spins, each represented by the ground states within the hyperfine manifold of a 171-Yb+ ion. ~We observe the transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic ground state spin order as the ratio of the transverse field to Ising couplings is varied. The crossover curves get `sharper' as the system size is increased, from N=2 to 9 ions, heralding the expected quantum phase transition in an infinite size system. Sources of error and insight from numerical simulations will be discussed and we expect these results will guide future experiments that will simulate quantum magnetic models that are intractable using classical computers.

*This work is supported by grants from the U.S. Army Research Office with funding from the DARPA OLE program, IARPA, and the MURI program; the NSF PIF Program; the NSF Physics Frontier Center at JQI; and the European Commission AQUTE program.

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Authors

  • S. Korenblit

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST

  • E.E. Edwards

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST

  • R. Islam

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST

  • K. Kim

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST

  • M.-S. Chang

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST

  • G.-D. Lin

    • MCTP, Dept of Physics, University of Michigan

  • L.-M. Duan

    • MCTP, Dept of Physics, University of Michigan

  • C. Noh

    • Dept of Physics, University of Auckland

  • Howard Carmichael

    • Dept of Physics, University of Auckland
    • Dept. of Physics, University of Auckland, New Zealand

  • C.-C. Wang

    • Dept of Physics, Georgetown University

  • James Freericks

    • Dept of Physics, Georgetown University
    • Georgetown University

  • Christopher Monroe

    • JQI: Dept of Physics, University of Maryland, and NIST
    • JQI, University of Maryland
    • Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland Department of Physics and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742
    • JQI, University of Maryland and NIST, College Park, MD 20742
    • JQI and University of Maryland