Experimental demonstration of work fluctuations along a shortcut to adiabaticity with a superconducting Xmon qubit

Abstract

In a 'shortcut to adiabaticity' (STA) protocol, the counter-diabatic Hamiltonian, which suppresses the non-adiabatic transition of a reference 'adiabatic' trajectory, induces a quantum uncertainty of the work cost in the framework of quantum thermodynamics. Following a theory derived recently (Funo et al 2017 Phys. Rev. Lett. 118 100602), we perform an experimental measurement of the STA work statistics in a high-quality superconducting Xmon qubit. Through the frozen-Hamiltonian and frozen-population techniques, we experimentally realize the two-point measurement of the work distribution for given initial eigenstates. Our experimental statistics verify (i) the conservation of the average STA work and (ii) the equality between the STA excess of work fluctuations and the quantum geometric tensor.

Focus on Shortcuts to Adiabaticity

“…These results are analogous to the time-energy uncertainty relations and provide tighter bounds to the speed of evolution. The study by Zhang et al [39] experimentally demonstrates the validity of these relations in accounting for work fluctuations along STA. The experimental platform consists of a cross-shaped superconducting transmon qubit, generally referred to as a Xmon qubit.…”

Robust and highly efficient discrimination of chiral molecules through three-mode parallel paths

“…The required respective phases of the three pulses can be determined by setting the phases of the corresponding fields. Recently, many microwave-regime experiments of the pulse shaping including the modulations of amplitudes, frequencies and phases (flip) by means of arbitrary waveform generators have been reported [54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. The electric dipole moments of the considered transitions are of 1 Debye order, and it is securable to control the Rabi frequencies within 0-10 MHz by using the maximum field strength around ∼ 2 V /cm.…”

Simulating Finite-Time Isothermal Processes with Superconducting Quantum Circuits

“…Along with the theoretical progress, experimental tests and validations of the principles are relevant in the realm. Simulation of the quantum thermodynamic phenomena [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ], as one of the experimental efforts, has been intensively explored with specific systems, e.g., a single trapped particle for testing the Jarzynski equation [ 11 , 12 ], the trapped interacting Fermi gas for quantum work extraction [ 13 , 14 ], and the superconducting qubits for the shortcuts to adiabaticity [ 15 , 16 ]. These specific systems often have limited functions to test generic quantum thermodynamic properties.…”

“…In quantum thermodynamics, the work extraction, as a fundamental quantity [ 28 , 29 , 30 ], requires the tuning of the control parameters. Such requirement is achievable in the specifically designed system, e.g., the laser-induced force on the trapped ion [ 11 ], the trapped frequency of the Fermi gas [ 13 , 14 ], and the external field in the superconducting system [ 15 , 16 ]. However, on a universal quantum computer, e.g., IBM quantum computer (ibmqx2), the user is forbidden to tune the actual physical parameters since the parameters have been optimized to reduce errors.…”