Quantum amplification of boson-mediated interactions

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates experimentally that parametric modulation of the trapping potential can amplify boson-mediated interactions between trapped-ion qubits, significantly enhancing quantum gate speeds and enabling new quantum information processing regimes.

Contribution

It is the first experimental realization of boson-mediated interaction amplification via parametric modulation in a quantum system.

Findings

Achieved up to 3.25-fold increase in interaction strength.

Measured corresponding speedup of two-qubit entangling gates.

Validated the technique's applicability for various quantum platforms.

Abstract

Strong and precisely-controlled interactions between quantum objects are essential for quantum information processing, simulation, and sensing, and for the formation of exotic quantum matter. A well-established paradigm for coupling otherwise weakly-interacting quantum objects is to use auxiliary bosonic quantum excitations to mediate the interactions. Important examples include photon-mediated interactions between atoms, superconducting qubits, and color centers in diamond, and phonon-mediated interactions between trapped ions and between optical and microwave photons. Boson-mediated interactions can in principle be amplified through parametric driving of the boson channel; the drive need not couple directly to the interacting quantum objects. This technique has been proposed for a variety of quantum platforms, but has not to date been realized in the laboratory. Here we experimentally demonstrate the amplification of a boson-mediated interaction between two trapped-ion qubits by parametric modulation of the trapping potential. The amplification provides up to a 3.25-fold increase in the interaction strength, validated by measuring the speedup of two-qubit entangling gates. This amplification technique can be used in any quantum platform where parametric modulation of the boson channel is possible, enabling exploration of new parameter regimes and enhanced quantum information processing.