Quantum emulation of a spin system with topologically protected ground states using superconducting quantum circuits

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to simulate a topologically protected spin system using superconducting circuits, enabling experimental exploration of exotic quantum states.

Contribution

It introduces a practical approach to construct a Kitaev lattice with superconducting circuits, demonstrating topological properties and excitations.

Findings

Demonstrates vortex and bond-state excitations in the proposed system

Shows the feasibility of realizing topological quantum states experimentally

Provides a new platform for studying topological quantum matter

Abstract

Using superconducting quantum circuit elements, we propose an approach to experimentally construct a Kitaev lattice, which is an anisotropic spin model on a honeycomb lattice with three types of nearest-neighbor interactions and having topologically protected ground states. We study two particular parameter regimes to demonstrate both vortex and bond-state excitations. Our proposal outlines an experimentally realizable artificial many-body system that exhibits exotic topological properties.