A Programmable Quantum Simulator of 2D Correlated Electron Systems
Abstract
Quantum materials in which the electrons interact strongly exhibit remarkable collectivephenomena such as superconductivity or magnetism. As such, these materials have applicationsin various technologies of relevance to the DOD. A microscopic understanding of quantummaterials is hindered by our inability to numerically simulate the physics of large quantumsystems of interacting particles. In recent years, quantum simulators have emerged as a viablesolution to this problem. Synthetic quantum many-body systems are engineered using atoms,ions or photons to realize idealized models of solid-state materials and experimentally exploretheir equilibrium phasediagrams or dynamics.We will develop a new platform for quantum simulation based on fermionic atoms inoptical tweezer arrays. The key advantages of this new platform over existing simulators basedon ultracold gases in optical lattices are: 1) on-the-fly programmability of the many-bodyHamiltonian in software down to the single-site leveland 2) the ability to reach lower entropies,which allowsaccess to novel phases of matter. Our approach builds on recent rapid progress withRydberg atom arrays, but provides the distinct capability of programmable simulation offermionic rather than s pin models. We have demonstrated the key ingredients of this platformina one-dimensional array of eight tweezers by engineering many-body states such as Mottinsulators and antiferromagnets. During this performance period, we will extend the platform totwo-dimensional arrays of up to 10 by 10 tweezers that can be configured in an arbitrarygeometry.As a first application of this novel setup, we will study frustrated electronic models, e.g.Fermi-Hubbard models ontriangular or Kagome lattices. We will start from frustrated laddersystems and build our way to fully two-dimensional systems. Thiswill allow us to investigatevarious aspects of these systems including valence bond order, novel hole pairing mechanisms,unusual magnetic order or spin liquid behavior, and spin-charge separation in two-dimensionalsystems. In particular, our investigations will shed light on the microscopics of quantum spinliquids, a highly sought class of quantum many-states characterized by long-range entanglementand fractionalized excitations that are promising for topological quantum computation.This has been approved for Public Release.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 05, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112646
Entities
People
- Waseem S Bakr
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Trustees of Princeton University
- United States Navy