Simulation of interaction-induced chiral topological dynamics on a digital quantum computer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the simulation of interaction-induced chiral topological dynamics on a small quantum computer, showcasing a novel approach to realize topological states using entangling gates on a 1D spin chain.

Contribution

The authors implement a chiral topological propagation on a superconducting quantum computer using a 1D spin chain and entangling gates, avoiding flux or spin-orbit coupling.

Findings

Successful simulation of chiral topological dynamics on a quantum computer

Implementation of a Chern lattice on a 1D spin chain with entangling gates

Circumvented hardware limitations to explore topological states

Abstract

Chiral edge states are highly sought-after as paradigmatic topological states relevant to both quantum information processing and dissipationless electron transport. Using superconducting transmon-based quantum computers, we demonstrate chiral topological propagation that is induced by suitably designed interactions, instead of flux or spin-orbit coupling. Also different from conventional 2D realizations, our effective Chern lattice is implemented on a much smaller equivalent 1D spin chain, with sequences of entangling gates encapsulating the required time-reversal breaking. By taking advantage of the quantum nature of the platform, we circumvented difficulties from the limited qubit number and gate fidelity in present-day noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ)-era quantum computers, paving the way for the quantum simulation of more sophisticated topological states on very rapidly developing quantum hardware.