Quantum simulation and ground state preparation for the honeycomb Kitaev model

Abstract

We propose a quantum protocol that allows preparing a ground state (GS) of the honeycomb Kitaev model. Our approach efficiently uses underlying symmetries and techniques from topological error correction. It is based on the stabilization procedure, the developed centralizer ansatz, and utilizes the vortex basis description as the most advantageous for qubit-based simulations. We demonstrate the high fidelity preparation of spin liquid ground states for the original Kitaev model, getting the exact GS for N=24 spins using 230 two-qubit operations. We then extend the variational procedure to non-zero magnetic fields, studying observables and correlations that reveal the phase transition. Finally, we perform dynamical simulation, where the ground state preparation opens a route towards studies of strongly-correlated dynamics, and a potential quantum advantage.

main text, SM to be added soon

References in corpus (11)

• Surface codes: Towards practical large-scale quantum computation
• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Simulated Quantum Computation of Molecular Energies
• Quantum Computation of Electronic Transitions using a Variational Quantum Eigensolver
• Magnetization processes of zigzag states on the honeycomb lattice: Identifying spin models for $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ and Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Fidelity susceptibility and long-range correlation in the Kitaev honeycomb model
• How will quantum computers provide an industrially relevant computational advantage in quantum chemistry?
• Reinforcement learning for optimization of variational quantum circuit architectures
• Topological degeneracy and vortex manipulation in Kitaev's honeycomb model
• MoG-VQE: Multiobjective genetic variational quantum eigensolver
• Quantum Circuits For Two-Dimensional Isometric Tensor Networks