A quantum processor based on coherent transport of entangled atom arrays

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The ability to engineer parallel, programmable operations between desired qubits within a quantum processor is key for building scalable quantum information systems<jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup>. In most state-of-the-art approaches, qubits interact locally, constrained by the connectivity associated with their fixed spatial layout. Here we demonstrate a quantum processor with dynamic, non-local connectivity, in which entangled qubits are coherently transported in a highly parallel manner across two spatial dimensions, between layers of single- and two-qubit operations. Our approach makes use of neutral atom arrays trapped and transported by optical tweezers; hyperfine states are used for robust quantum information storage, and excitation into Rydberg states is used for entanglement generation<jats:sup>3–5</jats:sup>. We use this architecture to realize programmable generation of entangled graph states, such as cluster states and a seven-qubit Steane code state<jats:sup>6,7</jats:sup>. Furthermore, we shuttle entangled ancilla arrays to realize a surface code state with thirteen data and six ancillary qubits<jats:sup>8</jats:sup> and a toric code state on a torus with sixteen data and eight ancillary qubits<jats:sup>9</jats:sup>. Finally, we use this architecture to realize a hybrid analogue–digital evolution<jats:sup>2</jats:sup> and use it for measuring entanglement entropy in quantum simulations<jats:sup>10–12</jats:sup>, experimentally observing non-monotonic entanglement dynamics associated with quantum many-body scars<jats:sup>13,14</jats:sup>. Realizing a long-standing goal, these results provide a route towards scalable quantum processing and enable applications ranging from simulation to metrology.</jats:p>