Demonstration of a parity-time symmetry breaking phase transition using superconducting and trapped-ion qutrits

Abstract

Scalable quantum computers hold the promise to solve hard computational problems, such as prime factorization, combinatorial optimization, simulation of many-body physics, and quantum chemistry. While being key to understanding many real-world phenomena, simulation of non-conservative quantum dynamics presents a challenge for unitary quantum computation. In this work, we focus on simulating non-unitary parity-time symmetric systems, which exhibit a distinctive symmetry-breaking phase transition as well as other unique features that have no counterpart in closed systems. We show that a qutrit, a three-level quantum system, is capable of realizing this non-equilibrium phase transition. By using two physical platforms -- an array of trapped ions and a superconducting transmon -- and by controlling their three energy levels in a digital manner, we experimentally simulate the parity-time symmetry-breaking phase transition. Our results indicate the potential advantage of multi-level (qudit) processors in simulating physical effects, where additional accessible levels can play the role of a controlled environment.

20 pages, 10 figures

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Qudits for decomposing multiqubit gates and realizing quantum algorithms
• Adiabatic Transformations in Dissipative and Non-Hermitian Phase Transitions
• Optimized surface ion trap design for tight confinement and separation of ion chains
• Virtual Z gates and symmetric gate compilation
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• Quantum Simulation of Two-Level $PT$-Symmetric Systems Using Hermitian Hamiltonians