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Probing the Kitaev honeycomb model on a neutral-atom quantum computer
Simon J Evered1, Marcin Kalinowski1, Alexandra A Geim1
1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nature
|September 10, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed a novel digital quantum simulation architecture for two-dimensional fermionic systems using reconfigurable atom arrays. This breakthrough enables efficient simulation of complex quantum models, advancing quantum chemistry and materials science.
Area of Science:
- Quantum Information Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Simulation
Background:
- Simulating many-body systems, especially those with strongly correlated fermions, is crucial for understanding quantum chemistry, materials science, and topological phases of matter.
- The non-local nature of fermions presents significant challenges for simulation using current qubit-based quantum devices.
- Digital quantum simulation offers a promising avenue for tackling these complex fermionic models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To realize a digital quantum simulation architecture for two-dimensional fermionic systems.
- To efficiently prepare topological states and verify exotic phases like the non-Abelian spin liquid.
- To explore tunable dynamics and simulate models like the Fermi-Hubbard model.
Main Methods:
- Utilized reconfigurable atom arrays to build a digital quantum simulation architecture.
- Employed a fermion-to-qubit mapping based on Kitaev's model on a honeycomb lattice, encoding fermionic statistics with entangled states.
- Implemented Floquet engineering with tunable entangling gates, atom rearrangement, measurement, feedforward, and error detection for fermionic evolution.
Main Results:
- Successfully prepared topological states across the Kitaev spin model's phase diagram and verified the non-Abelian spin-liquid phase using an odd Chern number.
- Demonstrated tunable dynamics in the two-dimensional fermion system and directly probed fermion exchange statistics.
- Simulated strong interactions and studied the dynamics of the Fermi-Hubbard model on a square lattice.
Conclusions:
- The developed digital quantum simulation architecture provides an efficient method for simulating complex two-dimensional fermionic systems.
- This work advances the capabilities for exploring topological matter and simulating challenging models relevant to materials science, chemistry, and high-energy physics.
- The architecture's flexibility paves the way for future investigations into a wider range of fermionic quantum systems.
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