Fate of False Vacuum in Superconducting Flux Qubits

TL;DR

This paper models the decay of false vacuum states in cosmology using superconducting flux qubits, calculating decay rates via instanton methods and relating them to qubit design parameters.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analogy between false vacuum decay in cosmology and quantum state decay in flux qubits, with explicit decay rate calculations.

Findings

Decay rate calculated using instanton approach.

Decay rate related to flux qubit parameters.

Potential implications for qubit coherence and reliability.

Abstract

We propose a similarity between the scenario of fate of false vacuum in cosmology at early universe and the situation in where the quantum state decays in superconducting Flux qubit. This is due to the fact that both cases have two homogeneous stable equilibrium states in scalar field, which in quantum theory, could penetrate through the barrier in different possibilities and hence considered unstable decaying in time. In quantum computation, decay rate is among the most important factors in characteristics of the system like coherency, reliability, measurement fidelity, etc. In this considered potential, the decay rate from the penetrating (False vacuum) state to the stable (absolute minimum) state is achieved to leading order in Planck constant by the approach of Instanton model. In case of the superconducting flux qubit having thin barrier potential, the decay rate is calculated and its relations with actual set of parameters in flux qubit design are introduced.