Strongly correlated quantum walks with a 12-qubit superconducting processor

Quantum walks are the quantum analogs of classical random walks, which allow for the simulation of large-scale quantum many-body systems and the realization of universal quantum computation without time-dependent control. We experimentally demonstrate quantum walks of one and two strongly correlated microwave photons in a one-dimensional array of 12 superconducting qubits with short-range interactions. First, in one-photon quantum walks, we observed the propagation of the density and correlation of the quasiparticle excitation of the superconducting qubit and quantum entanglement between qubit pairs. Second, when implementing two-photon quantum walks by exciting two superconducting qubits, we observed the fermionization of strongly interacting photons from the measured time-dependent long-range anticorrelations, representing the antibunching of photons with attractive interactions. The demonstration of quantum walks on a quantum processor, using superconducting qubits as artificial atoms and tomographic readout, paves the way to quantum simulation of many-body phenomena and universal quantum computation.