Abstract
A leading application of quantum computers is the efficient simulation of large unitary quantum systems. Extending this advantage to the study of open Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (CQED) systems could enable the use of quantum computers in the exploration and design of many-body quantum optical devices. Such devices have promising applications in optical quantum communication, simulation, and computing. In this work, we present an early exploration of the potential for quantum computers to efficiently investigate open CQED physics. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers, a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results provide confidence that future simulation algorithms, combined with emerging large-scale quantum processors, can be a powerful tool for studying cavity quantum electrodynamics.
*Authors acknowledge support by Noyce Foundation, National Science Foundation CAREER program (Award 2047564), the UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives of the University of California (Grant Number M23PL5936), Google Research Scholar Fellowship, and the Pauli Center for Theoretical Study. This material was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Quantum Testbed Program under contracts DE-AC02-05CH11231 and DE-NA0003525. Sandia National Laboratories is managed and operated by NTESS, LLC, a subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc. for the US DOE NNSA under contract DE-NA0003525. This work is funded by the US DOE Office of Science ASCR Quantum Testbed Program.
