In quantum computing, Mølmer–Sørensen gate scheme (or MS gate) refers to an implementation procedure for various multi-qubit quantum logic gates used mostly in trapped ion quantum computing. This procedure is based on the original proposition by Klaus Mølmer and Anders Sørensen in 1999-2000.[1] [2] [3]
This proposal was an alternative to the 1995 Cirac–Zoller controlled-NOT gate implementation for trapped ions, which requires that the system be restricted to the joint motional ground state of the ions.
In an MS gate, entangled states are prepared by illuminating ions with a bichromatic light field. Mølmer and Sørensen identified two regimes in which this is possible:
In both regimes, a red and blue sideband interaction are applied simultaneously to each ion, with the red and blue tones symmetrically detuned by
\delta'
\pm(\omegak+\delta')
\omegak
When an MS gate is applied globally to all ions in a chain, multipartite entanglement is created, with the form of the gate being a sum of local XX (or YY, or XY depending on experimental parameters) interactions applied to all qubit pairs. When the gate is performed on a single pair of ions, it reduces to the RXX gate. Thus, the CNOT gate can be decomposed into an MS gate and combination of single particle rotations.
Trapped ions were identified by Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller at the University of Innsbruck, Austria in 1995, as the first realistic system with which to implement a quantum computer, in a proposal which included a procedure for implementing a CNOT gate by coupling ions through their collective motion.[4] A major drawback of Cirac and Zoller's scheme was that it required the trapped ion system to be restricted to its joint motional ground state, which is difficult to achieve experimentally. The Cirac-Zoller CNOT gate was not experimentally demonstrated with two ions until 8 years later, in 2003, with a fidelity of 70-80%.[5] Around 1998, there was a collective effort to develop two-qubit gates independent of the motional state of individual ions,[6] [7] one of which was the scheme proposed by Klaus Mølmer and Anders Sørensen in Aarhus University, Denmark.
In 1999, Mølmer and Sørensen proposed a native multi-qubit trapped ion gate as an alternative to Cirac and Zoller's scheme, insensitive to the vibrational state of the system and robust against changes in the vibrational number during gate operation. Mølmer and Sørensen's scheme requires only that the ions be in the Lamb-Dicke regime, and it produces an Ising-like interaction Hamiltonian using a bichromatic laser field.
Following Mølmer and Sørensen's 1999 papers, Gerard J. Milburn proposed a 2-qubit gate that makes use of a stroboscopic Hamiltonian in order to couple internal state operators to different quadrature components.[8] Soon after, in 2000, Mølmer and Sørensen published a third article illustrating that their 1999 scheme was already a realization of Milburn's, just with a harmonic rather than stroboscopic application of the Hamiltonian coupling terms.
Mølmer and Sørensen's 2000 article also takes a more general approach to the gate scheme compared to the 1999 proposal. In the 1999 papers, only the "slow gate" regime is considered, in which a large detuning from resonance is required to avoid off-resonant coupling to unwanted phonon modes. In 2000, Mølmer and Sørensen remove this restriction and show how to remove phonon number dependence in the "fast gate" regime, where lasers are tuned close to the sidebands.
The first experimental demonstration of the MS gate was performed in 2000 by David J. Wineland's group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with fidelities of F= .83 for 2 ions and F=.57 for 4 ions.[9] In 2003, Wineland's group produced better results by using a geometric phase gate,[10] which is a specific case of the more general formalism put forward by Mølmer, Sørensen, Milburn, and Xiaoguang Wang. Today, the MS gate is widely used and accepted as the standard by trapped ion groups (and companies),[11] [12] and optimizing and generalizing MS gates is currently an active field in the trapped ion community.[13] [14] [15] [16] MS-like gates have also been developed for other quantum computing platforms.[17]
To implement the scheme, two ions are irradiated with a bichromatic laser field with frequencies
\omegaeg\pm\delta
\hbar\omegaeg
\delta=\pm(\omegak+\delta')
\omegak
\begin{align}\midee\rangle → (|ee\rangle+i|gg\rangle)/\sqrt{2}\\ \mideg\rangle → (|eg\rangle-i|ge\rangle)/\sqrt{2}\\ \midge\rangle → (|ge\rangle-i|eg\rangle)/\sqrt{2}\\ \midgg\rangle → (|gg\rangle+i|ee\rangle)/\sqrt{2} \end{align}
The above is equivalent to the Ising coupling gate Ryy(π/2); It can then be shown that this gate (along with arbitrary single-qubit rotation) produces a universal set of gates.
An alternative definition of MS gate equates it to Rxx(π/2), and is adopted as IonQ's native gate for two-qubit entanglement.[19] In this definition, CNOT gate can be decomposed as
\begin{align} CNOT
| |||||
&=e |
\\ &=R | |
y1 |
| |||||
(-\pi/2)e |
R | |
y1 |
(\pi/2)\\ &=R | |
y1 |
| ||||
(-\pi/2)e |
| |||||
e |
R | |
y1 |
| ||||
(\pi/2)\\ &=e |
R | |
y1 |
(-\pi/2)R | |
x1 |
(-\pi/2)R | |
x2 |
(-\pi/2)Rxx
(\pi/2)R | |
y1 |
(\pi/2) \end{align}
The Mølmer–Sørensen gate implementation has the advantage that it does not fail if the ions were not cooled completely to the ground state, and it does not require the ions to be individually addressed.[20] However, this thermal insensitivity is only valid in the Lamb–Dicke regime, so most implementations first cool the ions to the motional ground state.[21] An experiment was done by P.C. Haljan, K. A. Brickman, L. Deslauriers, P.J. Lee, and C. Monroe where this gate was used to produce all four Bell states and to implement Grover's algorithm successfully.[22]
The relevant Hamiltonian for a single trapped ion consists of the interaction between a spin-1/2 system, a harmonic oscillator trapping potential, and an external laser radiation field:[23]
\begin{align} H&=H0+HI\\ &=(H\rm+H\rm)+H\rm\\ &=-\hbar
\omegage | |
2 |
\sigmaz+\hbar\omega0(a\daggera+
1 | |
2 |
)-\vec{\mue} ⋅ \vec{E}. \end{align}
Here,
\omegage
|0\rangle
|1\rangle
a\dagger
a
\hbar\omega0
\sigmaz
The third term, the interaction Hamiltonian, can be written
\begin{align} HI&=-\vec{\muE} ⋅ \vec{E}\\ &=\Omega\sigmax\cos(kz-\omegaLt+\phi)\\ &=
\Omega | |
2 |
(\sigma++
i(η(a+a\dagger)-\omegaLt+\phi) | |
\sigma | |
-)(e |
+
-i(η(a+a\dagger)-\omegaLt+\phi) | |
e |
)\\ \end{align}
for an
x-
z
\Omega=-\muEE
z
z=z0(a+a\dagger)
z0=(\hbar/2m
1/2 | |
\omega | |
z) |
m
η=kz0
λ=2\pik
Now we will move into the interaction picture with respect to
H\rm
H\rm
HI=
\Omega | |
2 |
\sigma-
| |||||||||||
e |
+h.c.
where we have detuned the laser by
\delta
\omegage
\Omega → \Omegaei
Within the Lamb-Dicke regime, we can make the approximation
| |||||||||||
e |
≈ 1-iη
i\omega0t | |
(e |
a\dagger
-i\omega0t | |
+e |
a)
which splits the Hamiltonian into three parts corresponding to a carrier transition, red sideband (RSB) transition, and blue sideband (BSB) transition:
HI=
\Omega | |
2 |
\sigma-(ei-iη
i(\delta+\omega0)t | |
e |
a\dagger-iη
i(\delta-\omega0)t | |
e |
a)+h.c.
By making a second rotating wave approximation to neglect oscillation terms, each piece can be examined independently. For
\delta=0
H\rm=
\Omega | |
2 |
(\sigma-+\sigma+),
\delta=-\omega0
|\delta+\omega0|\ll|\delta|,|\delta-\omega0|
H\rm=-iη
\Omega | |
2 |
(a\dagger\sigma-)
i(\delta+\omega0)t | |
e |
+h.c.
The RSB transition can be thought of as an `exchange' of motion for spin. For an ion with phonon occupation number
n
\pi
|g,n\rangle → |e,n-1\rangle
\Omega\rm=η\Omega\sqrt{n}
For
\delta=\omega0
|\delta-\omega0|\ll|\delta|,|\delta+\omega0|
H\rm=-iη
\Omega | |
2 |
(a\sigma-)
i(\delta-\omega0)t | |
e |
+h.c.
which is also a spin-motion exchange. For an ion with phonon occupation number
n
\pi
|g,n\rangle → |e,n+1\rangle
\Omega\rm=η\Omega\sqrt{n+1}
The MS Hamiltonian is the application of simultaneous, symmetrically detuned red and blue sideband tones over
j
H\rm
H\rm=\sumjH\rm+H\rm+H\rm+H\rm
where the single-ion Hamiltonians (in the rotating-wave approximation with respect to
H\rm
\begin{align} H\rm&=\left(
\OmegaR | |
2 |
i\deltaRt | |
e |
+
\OmegaB | |
2 |
i\deltaBt | |
e |
\right)\sigma-+h.c.\\ H\rm&=iη
\OmegaR | |
2 |
\sigma-a\dagger
i\deltaRt | |
e |
+h.c.\\ H\rm&=iη
\OmegaB | |
2 |
\sigma-a
i\deltaBt | |
e |
+h.c. \end{align}
The red and blue tones have the effective Rabi frequencies
\OmegaR=\Omega
i\phiR | |
e |
\OmegaB=\Omega
i\phiB | |
e |
To be thorough, we will also sum over all
k
N
x
d
bk
\omegak
\delta'
\pm(\omegak+\delta')
H\rm
We define
\mu\equiv\deltaB=-\deltaR
\muk=\mu-\delta'
Under the preceding assumptions, the MS interaction Hamiltonian (with respect to
H\rm
H\rm=i\sumj,ηj,
\Omegaj | |
2 |
\sigma-,[ak
-i(\mukt-\phiR) | |
e |
+
\dagger | |
a | |
k |
i(\mukt+\phiB) | |
e |
]+h.c.
where
ηj,k=\Deltak\sqrt{\hbar/(2M\omegak)}b
k | |
j |
\phis\equiv
\phiB+\phiR | |
2 |
, \phim\equiv
\phiB-\phiR | |
2 |
such that the Hamiltonian can be separated into its spin and motional components:
\begin{align} H\rm&=i\sumj,ηj,
\Omegaj | |
2 |
i(\mukt+\phiB) | |
[e |
\sigma-,ak-
-(\mukt+\phiB) | |
e |
\sigma+,
\dagger | |
a | |
k |
+
-i(\mukt+\phiR) | |
e |
\sigma-,
\dagger | |
a | |
k |
-
i(\mukt-\phiR) | |
e |
\sigma+,ak]\\ &=i\sumj,ηj,
\Omegaj | |
2 |
[(\sigma-,
i\phis | |
e |
-\sigma+,
-i\phis | |
e |
)(ak
i\mukt | |
e |
i\phim | |
e |
+
\dagger | |
a | |
k |
-i\mukt | |
e |
-i\phim | |
e |
)]\\ &\equivi\sumj,ηj,
\Omegaj | |
2 |
[\hat{\sigma}j ⊗ \hat{A}k(t)] \end{align}
where we have now defined the spin operator
\hat{\sigma}j
\hat{A}k(t)
U(t)=
| ||||||||||
e |
where the first two
Ml(t)
\begin{align} M1(t)&=-
i | |
\hbar |
t | |
\int | |
0 |
H\rm(t1)dt1\\ M2(t)&=
1 | (- | |
2 |
i | |
\hbar |
)2
t | |
\int | |
0 |
t1 | |
\int | |
0 |
[H\rm(t1),H\rm(t2)]dt2dt1 \end{align}
and higher order terms vanish for the MS Hamiltonian since
[M2(t1),H\rm(t2)]=0.
The first order term is
M1(t)=\sumj,\hat{\sigmaj}[\alphaj,(t)ak+
*(t) | |
\alpha | |
j,k |
\dagger | |
a | |
k |
]
where
\alphak(t)=ηj,(\Omegaj/2\muk)
i\mukt/2 | |
e |
\sin(\mukt/2)
i\phim | |
e |
kth
In the weak field regime, where
η\Omega\ll\mu
The second order term is
M2(t)=i\sumi<j,\hat{\sigmai}\hat{\sigmaj}
ηi,ηj,\Omegai\Omegaj | |
2\muk |
(\mukt-\sin(\mukt))
over ion pairs
\{i,j\}
If we set the phases such that
\phiR=0
\phiB=\pi
\hat{\sigma} → -\sigmax
In the strong field regime, ions are coherently excited and the motional state is highly entangled with the internal state until all undesirable excitations are deterministically removed toward the end of the interaction. Care must be taken to end the gate at a time when all motional modes have returned to the origin in phase space, and so the gate time is defined by
\alpha=0\longrightarrow\mukt\rm=2\pi
k
For
\mukt=2\pi
M2(t)
U\rm(t\rm)=\exp[i
\pi | |
2 |
\sumi<j.
ηi,ηj,\Omegai\Omegaj | ||||||
|
\hat{\sigma}i\hat{\sigma}j].
Mølmer and Sørensen's original proposition considers operations in the limit
η\Omega\ll\omegak-\delta
\delta'
\omegak
n\pm1
If we consider two ions, each illuminated by lasers with detunings
\delta=\pm(\omegak+\delta')
\omegaeg
|gg\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee\rangle
|ge\rangle\leftrightarrow|eg\rangle
-iη(a\dagger+a) | |
e |
≈ 1-iη(a\dagger+a)
|gg,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee,n\rangle
m
\tilde{\Omega}=2\summ
\langleee,n|H\rm|m\rangle\langlem|H\rm|gg,n\rangle | |
Egg,+\hbar\omegai-Em |
There are four possible transition paths between
|gg,n\rangle
|ee,n\rangle
|gg,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|eg,n+1\rangle
|eg,n+1\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee,n\rangle
|gg,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|eg,n-1\rangle
|eg,n-1\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee,n\rangle
|gg,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|ge,n+1\rangle
|ge,n+1\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee,n\rangle
|gg,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|ge,n-1\rangle
|ge,n-1\rangle\leftrightarrow|ee,n\rangle
and so the summation can be restricted to these four intermediate terms.
The pathways involving intermediate states with
n+1
\sqrt{n+1}\Omega2η2/(\delta-\omegak)
n-1
-n\Omega2η2/(\delta-\omegak)
\tilde{\Omega}=
(\Omegaη)2 | |
\delta' |
n
Four similar transition pathways can be identified between
|ge,n\rangle\leftrightarrow|eg,n\rangle
|gg\rangle → \cos(
\tilde{\Omega | |
t}{2}) |
|gg\rangle+i\sin(
\tilde\Omegat | |
2 |
)|ee\rangle
|ee\rangle → \cos(
\tilde{\Omega | |
t}{2}) |
|ee\rangle+i\sin(
\tilde\Omegat | |
2 |
)|gg\rangle
|ge\rangle → \cos(
\tilde{\Omega | |
t}{2}) |
|ge\rangle-i\sin(
\tilde\Omegat | |
2 |
)|eg\rangle
|eg\rangle → \cos(
\tilde{\Omega | |
t}{2}) |
|eg\rangle-i\sin(
\tilde\Omegat | |
2 |
)|ge\rangle
Maximally entangled states are created at time
t=\pi/(2|\tilde{\Omega}|)
In the weak field regime,
M1(t)
M2(t)
Doing so, the effective time evolution operator becomes
U\rm(t) ≈ \exp[i\sumi<j,(\hat{\sigma}i
\hat{\sigma} | ||||||||||
|
\omegakt]
which is equivalent to that of an Ising Hamiltonian
H\rm ≈ \sumi<jJij\hat{\sigma}i\hat{\sigma}j,
with coupling between
i
j
Jij ≈ \Omegai\Omegaj\sumk
ηi,ηj,k | ||||||
|
\omegak