Small, Highly Accurate Quantum Processor for Intermediate-Depth Quantum Simulations

TL;DR

This paper presents a small, highly accurate quantum simulator capable of running long, high-fidelity simulations of complex quantum systems, aiding the understanding of dynamics and imperfections in quantum simulation.

Contribution

The authors develop a highly accurate, non-scalable quantum simulator that maintains fidelity over many time steps, enabling detailed exploration of quantum dynamics and errors.

Findings

Achieved high-fidelity simulations for over 100 time steps

Demonstrated accuracy across three different model Hamiltonians

Provided insights into the effects of imperfections on quantum simulation

Abstract

Analog quantum simulation is widely considered a step on the path to fault tolerant quantum computation. If based on current noisy hardware, the accuracy of an analog simulator will degrade after just a few time steps, especially when simulating complex systems that are likely to exhibit quantum chaos. Here we describe a small, highly accurate quantum simulator and its use to run high fidelity simulations of three different model Hamiltonians for $>100$ time steps. While not scalable to exponentially large Hilbert spaces, this platform provides the accuracy and programmability required for systematic exploration of the interplay between dynamics, imperfections, and accuracy in quantum simulation.