Presenter
Abstract
Quantum annealing processors developed and sold by D-Wave systems implement the transverse-field Ising model in superconducting flux qubits. Although the initial intention was to solve classical optimization problems using the adiabatic algorithm, new control knobs allow quantum systems to be probed with a significant transverse field. The speaker will discuss two such experiments: (1) an investigation of spin-glass/ferromagnetic/paramagnetic phase transitions in a 3D cubic lattice and (2) an investigation of a Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in a fully frustrated 2D lattice. These demonstrations of programmable quantum simulation at mesoscopic scale represent a nonuniversal step toward Richard Feynman’s vision of universal quantum simulators.
About the Speaker:
Andrew King is a performance researcher at D-Wave Systems, where he has been studying performance and applications of quantum annealing processors since 2013. His background is in algorithms and structural graph theory.
Sponsoring Organization:
Computational Sciences and Engineering Division Quantum Computing Institute