Milena Guevara-Bertsch

We experimentally demonstrate local robust shadows on a trapped-ion quantum computing system, a protocol developed to counteract measurement errors. We alternate between a calibration stage and the shadow estimation stage and also introduce Pauli-X-twirling before measurements in both stages to symmetrize error rates. We then demonstrate the protocol on a trapped-ion quantum computer with artificially shortened measurement pulse duration. This yields faster experiments at the cost of increased error rates which are subsequently mitigated by the robust shadow protocol. We benchmark this approach on three exemplary quantum states: a local Haar random state, as well as standard and Pauli-correlation-encoded QAOA states. In all three cases, the local robust shadow protocol succeeds at mitigating the increased error rates hailing from shorter measurement pulse durations.

Resource-efficient, low-depth implementations of quantum circuits remain a promising strategy for achieving reliable and scalable computation on quantum hardware, as they reduce gate resources and limit the accumulation of noisy operations. Here, we propose a low-depth implementation of a class of Hadamard test circuits, complemented by the development of a parameterized quantum ansatz specifically tailored for variational algorithms that exploit the underlying Hadamard test framework. Our findings demonstrate a significant reduction in single- and two-qubit gate counts, suggesting a reliable circuit architecture for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. Building on this foundation, we tested our low-depth scheme to investigate the expressive capacity of the proposed parameterized ansatz in simulating nonlinear Burgers' dynamics. The resulting variational quantum states faithfully capture the shockwave feature of the turbulent regime and maintain high overlaps with classical benchmarks, underscoring the practical effectiveness of our framework. Furthermore, we evaluate the effect of hardware noise by modeling the error properties of real quantum processors and by executing the variational algorithm on a trapped-ion-based IBEX Q1 device. The outcomes of our demonstrations highlight the resilience of our low-depth scheme in the turbulent regime, consistently preparing high-fidelity variational states that exhibit strong agreement with classical benchmarks. Our work contributes to the advancement of resource-efficient strategies for quantum computation, offering a robust framework for tackling a range of computationally intensive problems across numerous applications.

Throughout its history, the theory of quantum error correction has heavily benefited from translating classical concepts into the quantum setting. In particular, classical notions of weight enumerators, which relate to the performance of an error-correcting code, and MacWilliams' identity, which helps to compute enumerators, have been generalized to the quantum case. In this work, we establish a distinct relationship between the theoretical machinery of quantum weight enumerators and a seemingly unrelated physics experiment: we prove that Rains' quantum shadow enumerators - a powerful mathematical tool - arise as probabilities of observing fixed numbers of triplets in a Bell sampling experiment. This insight allows us to develop here a rigorous framework for the direct measurement of quantum weight enumerators, thus enabling experimental and theoretical studies of the entanglement structure of any quantum error-correcting code or state under investigation. On top of that, we derive concrete sample complexity bounds and physically-motivated robustness guarantees against unavoidable experimental imperfections. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the possibility of directly measuring weight enumerators on a trapped-ion quantum computer. Our experimental findings are in good agreement with theoretical predictions and illuminate how entanglement theory and quantum error correction can cross-fertilize each other once Bell sampling experiments are combined with the theoretical machinery of quantum weight enumerators.

The oscillating magnetic field produced by unbalanced currents in radio-frequency ion traps induces transition frequency shifts and sideband transitions that can be harmful to precision spectroscopy experiments. Here, we describe a methodology, based on two-photon spectroscopy, for determining both the strength and direction of rf-induced magnetic fields without modifying any DC magnetic bias field or changing any trap RF power. The technique is readily applicable to any trapped-ion experiment featuring narrow linewidth transitions.

In this work, we present a method for measuring the motional state of a two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator. Our technique uses ultra-narrowband composite pulses on the blue sideband transition to scan through the populations of the different motional states. Our approach does not assume any previous knowledge of the motional state distribution and is easily implemented. It is applicable both inside and outside of the Lamb-Dicke regime. For higher phonon numbers especially, the composite pulse sequence can be used as a filter for measuring phonon number ranges. We demonstrate this measurement technique using a single trapped ion and show good detection results with the numerically evaluated pulse sequence.

We perform quantum logic spectroscopy with a $^{27}$Al$^{+}$/$^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ mixed ion crystal in a linear Paul trap for a measurement of the $(3s^{2})\,^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0} \leftrightarrow \, (3s3p)\,^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}, F=7/2$ intercombination transition in $^{27}$Al$^{+}$. Towards this end, Ramsey spectroscopy is used for probing the transition in $^{27}$Al$^{+}$ and the $(4s^{2})\,\mathrm{S}_{1/2} \leftrightarrow \, (4s3d)\,\mathrm{D}_{5/2}$ clock transition in $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ in interleaved measurements. By using the precisely measured frequency of the clock transition in $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$ as a frequency reference, we determine the frequency of the intercombination line to be $ν_{^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0} \leftrightarrow \,^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1},F=7/2}$=1122 842 857 334 736(93) Hz and the Landé g-factor of the excited state to be $g_{^{3}\mathrm{P}_{1}, F=7/2}$=0.428132(2).