B. Reznik

Lattice gauge theories, which originated from particle physics in the context of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), provide an important intellectual stimulus to further develop quantum information technologies. While one long-term goal is the reliable quantum simulation of currently intractable aspects of QCD itself, lattice gauge theories also play an important role in condensed matter physics and in quantum information science. In this way, lattice gauge theories provide both motivation and a framework for interdisciplinary research towards the development of special purpose digital and analog quantum simulators, and ultimately of scalable universal quantum computers. In this manuscript, recent results and new tools from a quantum science approach to study lattice gauge theories are reviewed. Two new complementary approaches are discussed: first, tensor network methods are presented - a classical simulation approach - applied to the study of lattice gauge theories together with some results on Abelian and non-Abelian lattice gauge theories. Then, recent proposals for the implementation of lattice gauge theory quantum simulators in different quantum hardware are reported, e.g., trapped ions, Rydberg atoms, and superconducting circuits. Finally, the first proof-of-principle trapped ions experimental quantum simulations of the Schwinger model are reviewed.

Laser cooled and trapped ions can crystallize and feature discrete solitons, that are nonlinear, topologically-protected configurations of the Coulomb crystal. Such solitons, as their continuum counterparts, can move within the crystal, while their discreteness leads to the existence of a gap-separated, spatially-localized motional mode of oscillation above the spectrum. Suggesting that these unique properties of discrete solitons can be used for generating entanglement between different sites of the crystal, we study a detailed proposal in the context of state-of-the-art experimental techniques. We analyze the interaction of periodically-driven planar ion crystals with optical forces, revealing the effects of micromotion in radio-frequency traps inherent to such structures, as opposed to linear ion chains. The proposed method requires Doppler cooling of the crystal and sideband cooling of the soliton's localized modes alone. Since the gap separation of the latter is nearly independent of the crystal size, this approach could be particularly useful for producing entanglement and studying system-environment interactions in large, two- and possibly three-dimensional systems.

We study discrete solitons (kinks) accessible in state-of-the-art trapped ion experiments, considering zigzag crystals and quasi-3D configurations, both theoretically and experimentally. We first extend the theoretical understanding of different phenomena predicted and recently experimentally observed in the structure and dynamics of these topological excitations. Employing tools from topological degree theory, we analyze bifurcations of crystal configurations in dependence on the trapping parameters, and investigate the formation of kink configurations and the transformations of kinks between different structures. This allows us to accurately define and calculate the effective potential experienced by solitons within the Wigner crystal, and study how this (so-called Peierls-Nabarro) potential gets modified to a nonperiodic globally trapping potential in certain parameter regimes. The kinks' rest mass (energy) and spectrum of modes are computed and the dynamics of linear and nonlinear kink oscillations are analyzed. We also present novel, experimentally observed, configurations of kinks incorporating a large-mass defect realized by an embedded molecular ion, and of pairs of interacting kinks stable for long times, offering the perspective for exploring and exploiting complex collective nonlinear excitations, controllable on the quantum level.

We study experimentally and theoretically structural defects which are formed during the transition from a laser cooled cloud to a Coulomb crystal, consisting of tens of ions in a linear radio frequency trap. We demonstrate the creation of predicted topological defects (`kinks') in purely two-dimensional crystals, and also find kinks which show novel dynamical features in a regime of parameters not considered before. The kinks are always observed at the centre of the trap, showing a large nonlinear localized excitation, and the probability of their occurrence surprisingly saturates at ~0.5. Simulations reveal a strong anharmonicity of the kink's internal mode of vibration, due to the kink's extension into three dimensions. As a consequence, the periodic Peierls-Nabarro potential experienced by a discrete kink becomes a globally confining potential, capable of trapping one cooled defect at the center of the crystal.

We examine the time-dependent dynamics of ion crystals in radiofrequency traps. The problem of stable trapping of general three-dimensional crystals is considered and the validity of the pseudopotential approximation is discussed. We derive analytically the micromotion amplitude of the ions, rigorously proving well-known experimental observations. We use a method of infinite determinants to find the modes which diagonalize the linearized time-dependent dynamical problem. This allows obtaining explicitly the ('Floquet-Lyapunov') transformation to coordinates of decoupled linear oscillators. We demonstrate the utility of the method by analyzing the modes of a small `peculiar' crystal in a linear Paul trap. The calculations can be readily generalized to multispecies ion crystals in general multipole traps, and time-dependent quantum wavefunctions of ion oscillations in such traps can be obtained.

Currently laser cooling schemes are fundamentally based on the weak coupling regime. This requirement sets the trap frequency as an upper bound to the cooling rate. In this work we present a numerical study that shows the feasibility of cooling in the strong coupling regime which then allows cooling rates that are faster than the trap frequency with state of the art experimental parameters. The scheme we present can work for trapped atoms or ions as well as mechanical oscillators. It can also cool medium size ions chains close to the ground state.

We propose to realize quantized discrete kinks with cold trapped ions. We show that long-lived solitonlike configurations are manifested as deformations of the zigzag structure in the linear Paul trap, and are topologically protected in a circular trap with an odd number of ions. We study the quantum-mechanical time evolution of a high-frequency, gap separated internal mode of a static kink and find long coherence times when the system is cooled to the Doppler limit. The spectral properties of the internal modes make them ideally suited for manipulation using current technology. This suggests that ion traps can be used to test quantum-mechanical effects with solitons and explore ideas for the utilization of the solitonic internal-modes as carriers of quantum information.

We present a method of generating collective multi-qubit entanglement via global addressing of an ion chain following the guidelines of the Tavis-Cummings model, where several qubits are coupled to a collective motional mode. We show that a wide family of Dicke states and irradiant states can be generated by single global laser pulses, unitarily or helped with suitable postselection techniques.

We propose and study a method for detecting ground-state entanglement in a chain of trapped ions, which realizes a suggested scheme for detecting vacuum entanglement in quantum field theory. We show that the entanglement between single ions or groups of ions can be swapped to the internal levels of two ions by sending laser pulses that couple the internal and motional degrees of freedom. This allows to entangle two ions without actually doing gates. A proof of principle of the effect can be realized with two trapped ions and is feasible with current technology.