Native qudit entanglement in a trapped ion quantum processor

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

Background:

• Quantum information carriers naturally exist in high-dimensional Hilbert spaces.
• Utilizing these high-dimensional (qudit) quantum systems is crucial for next-generation quantum processors.
• Efficient methods for generating interactions between qudits are needed to harness their potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate a native two-qudit entangling gate for high-dimensional quantum systems.
• To implement this gate in a trapped-ion system up to dimension 5.
• To generalize a light-shift gate mechanism for generating qudit entanglement.

Main Methods:

• Experimental implementation of a generalized light-shift gate mechanism.
• Utilizing a trapped-ion system.
• Demonstrating a native two-qudit entangling gate up to dimension 5.

Main Results:

• Successful demonstration of a native two-qudit entangling gate up to dimension 5.
• The gate generates genuine qudit entanglement in a single application.
• The gate adapts to the local dimension with dimension-independent calibration overhead.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated gate is a significant step towards harnessing high-dimensional quantum systems for quantum computing.
• This method provides an efficient and scalable approach for generating qudit entanglement.
• The dimension-agnostic nature of the calibration overhead simplifies implementation in complex quantum processors.