Tue September 25, 2012 4:00 pm
Quantum simulation of interacting spin models with trapped ions
Location:Jefferson-356
Trapped ions provide an ideal system for quantum simulation by virtue of their near perfect initialization and readout properties, excellent coherence time and ability to support many classes of interactions. We use a chain of ~20 laser-cooled trapped Yb-171+ ions to simulate a long range Ising model in a transverse magnetic field, and observe transition between different magnetic orders as the Hamiltonian is tuned according to the adiabatic quantum simulation protocol. The Ising interaction strength can be almost arbitrarily controlled, both in sign and in magnitude, which allows us to study non trivial many body physics like spin frustration and quantum phase transitions. Furthermore, the long range nature of the interaction can be exploited to simulate spin Hamiltonians in higher spatial dimensions in this physically one dimensional ion chain system.