arXiv subjects

Dong E. Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Dong E. Liu.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

A Novel Quantum Realization of Jet Clustering in High-Energy Physics Experiments

Exploring the application of quantum technologies to fundamental sciences holds the key to fostering innovation for both sides. In high-energy particle collisions, quarks and gluons are produced and immediately form collimated particle sprays known as jets. Accurate jet clustering is crucial as it retains the information of the originating quark or gluon and forms the basis for studying properties of the Higgs boson, which underlies teh mechanism of mass generation for subatomic particles. For the first time, by mapping collision events into graphs--with particles as nodes and their angular separations as edges--we realize jet clustering using the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for addressing classical combinatorial optimization problems with available quantum resources. Our results, derived from 30 qubits on quantum computer simulator and 6 qubits on quantum computer hardware, demonstrate that jet clustering performance with QAOA is comparable with or even better than classical algorithms for a small-sized problem. This study highlights the feasibility of quantum computing to revolutionize jet clustering, bringing the practical application of quantum computing in high-energy physics experiments one step closer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Vulnerability of fault-tolerant topological quantum error correction to quantum deviations in code space

Quantum computers face significant challenges from quantum deviations or coherent noise, particularly during gate operations, which pose a complex threat to the efficacy of quantum error correction (QEC) protocols. In this study, we scrutinize the performance of the topological toric code in 2 dimension (2D) under the dual influence of stochastic noise and quantum deviations, especially during the critical phases of initial state preparation and error detection facilitated by multi-qubit entanglement gates. By mapping the protocol for multi-round error detection--from the inception of an imperfectly prepared code state via imperfect stabilizer measurements--to a statistical mechanical model characterized by a 3-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory coupled with a 2-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge theory, we establish a novel link between the error threshold and the model's phase transition point. We find two distinct error thresholds that demarcate varying efficacies in error correction. The empirical threshold that signifies the operational success of QEC aligns with the theoretical ideal of flawless state preparation operations. Contrarily, below another finite theoretical threshold, a phenomenon absent in purely stochastic error models emerges: unidentifiable measurement errors precipitate QEC failure in scenarios with large code distances. For codes of finite or modest distance $d$, it is revealed that maintaining the preparation error rate beneath a crossover scale, proportional to $1/\log d$, allows for the suppression of logical errors. Considering that fault-tolerant quantum computation is valuable only in systems with large scale and exceptionally low logical error rates, this investigation explicitly demonstrates the vulnerability of 2D toric codes to quantum deviations in code space.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Mitigating Errors in Analog Quantum Simulation by Hamiltonian Reshaping or Hamiltonian Rescaling

Simulating quantum many-body systems is crucial for advancing physics but poses substantial challenges for classical computers. Quantum simulations overcome these limitations, with analog simulators offering unique advantages over digital methods, such as lower systematic errors and reduced circuit depth, making them efficient for studying complex quantum phenomena. However, unlike their digital counterparts, analog quantum simulations face significant limitations due to the absence of effective error mitigation techniques. This work introduces two novel error mitigation strategies -- Hamiltonian reshaping and Hamiltonian rescaling -- in analog quantum simulation for tasks like eigen-energy evaluation. Hamiltonian reshaping uses random unitary transformations to generate new Hamiltonians with identical eigenvalues but varied eigenstates, allowing error reduction through averaging. Hamiltonian rescaling mitigates errors by comparing eigenvalue estimates from energy-scaled Hamiltonians. Numerical calculations validate both methods, demonstrating their significant practical effectiveness in enhancing the accuracy and reliability of analog quantum simulators.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Extracting Error Thresholds through the Framework of Approximate Quantum Error Correction Condition

The robustness of quantum memory against physical noises is measured by two methods: the exact and approximate quantum error correction (QEC) conditions for error recoverability, and the decoder-dependent error threshold which assesses if the logical error rate diminishes with system size. Here we unravel their relations and propose a unified framework to extract an intrinsic error threshold from the approximate QEC condition, which could upper bound other decoder-dependent error thresholds. Our proof establishes that relative entropy, effectively measuring deviations from exact QEC conditions, serves as the order parameter delineating the transition from asymptotic recoverability to unrecoverability. Consequently, we establish a unified framework for determining the error threshold across both exact and approximate QEC codes, addressing errors originating from noise channels as well as those from code space imperfections. This result sharpens our comprehension of error thresholds across diverse QEC codes and error models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

PPO-Q: Proximal Policy Optimization with Parametrized Quantum Policies or Values

Quantum machine learning (QML), which combines quantum computing with machine learning, is widely believed to hold the potential to outperform traditional machine learning in the era of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ). As one of the most important types of QML, quantum reinforcement learning (QRL) with parameterized quantum circuits as agents has received extensive attention in the past few years. Various algorithms and techniques have been introduced, demonstrating the effectiveness of QRL in solving some popular benchmark environments such as CartPole, FrozenLake, and MountainCar. However, tackling more complex environments with continuous action spaces and high-dimensional state spaces remains challenging within the existing QRL framework. Here we present PPO-Q, which, by integrating hybrid quantum-classical networks into the actor or critic part of the proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm, achieves state-of-the-art performance in a range of complex environments with significantly reduced training parameters. The hybrid quantum-classical networks in the PPO-Q incorporate two additional traditional neural networks to aid the parameterized quantum circuits in managing high-dimensional state encoding and action selection. When evaluated on 8 diverse environments, including four with continuous action space, the PPO-Q achieved comparable performance with the PPO algorithm but with significantly reduced training parameters. Especially, we accomplished the BipedalWalker environment, with a high-dimensional state and continuous action space simultaneously, which has not previously been reported in the QRL. More importantly, the PPO-Q is very friendly to the current NISQ hardware. We successfully trained two representative environments on the real superconducting quantum devices via the Quafu quantum cloud service.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Information scrambling and entanglement in quantum approximate optimization algorithm circuits

Variational quantum algorithms, which consist of optimal parameterized quantum circuits, are promising for demonstrating quantum advantages in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. Apart from classical computational resources, different kinds of quantum resources have their contributions to the process of computing, such as information scrambling and entanglement. Characterizing the relation between the complexity of specific problems and quantum resources consumed by solving these problems is helpful for us to understand the structure of VQAs in the context of quantum information processing. In this work, we focus on the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA), which aims to solve combinatorial optimization problems. We study information scrambling and entanglement in QAOA circuits, respectively, and discover that for a harder problem, more quantum resource is required for the QAOA circuit to obtain the solution in most cases. We note that in the future, our results can be used to benchmark the complexity of quantum many-body problems by information scrambling or entanglement accumulation in the computing process.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Enhanced localization in the prethermal regime of continuously measured many-body localized systems

Many-body localized systems exhibit a unique characteristic of avoiding thermalization, primarily attributed to the presence of a local disorder potential in the Hamiltonian. In recent years there has been an interest in simulating these systems on quantum devices. However, actual quantum devices are subject to unavoidable decoherence that can be modeled as coupling to a bath or continuous measurements. The quantum Zeno effect is also known to inhibit thermalization in a quantum system, where repeated measurements suppress transport. In this work we study the interplay of many-body localization and the many-body quantum Zeno effect. In a prethermal regime, we find that signatures of many-body localization are enhanced when the system is coupled to a bath that contains measurements of local fermion population, subject to the appropriate choice of system and bath parameters.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

Anomalous Fraunhofer-like patterns in quantum anomalous Hall Josephson junction

The intriguing interplay between topology and superconductivity has attracted significant attention, given its potential for realizing topological superconductivity. In the quantum anomalous Hall insulators (QAHIs)-based junction, the supercurrents are carried by the chiral edge states, characterized by a $2Φ_0$ magnetic flux periodicity ($Φ_0 = h/2e$ is the flux quantum, $h$ the Planck constant, and $e$ the electron charge). However, experimental observations indicate the presence of bulk carriers in QAHI samples due to magnetic dopants. In this study, we reveal a systematic transition from edge-state to bulk-state dominant supercurrents as the chemical potential varies from the bulk gap to the conduction band. This results in an evolution from a $2Φ_0$-periodic oscillation pattern to an asymmetric Fraunhofer pattern. Furthermore, a novel Fraunhoher-like pattern emerges due to the coexistence of chiral edge states and bulk states caused by magnetic {\color{black}domains}, even when the chemical potential resides within the gap. These findings not only advance the theoretical understanding but also pave the way for the experimental discovery of the chiral Josephson effect based on QAHI doped with magnetic impurities.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Coulomb blockade in open superconducting islands on InAs nanowires

Electrons in closed systems can exhibit Coulomb blockade (CB) oscillations due to charge quantization. Here, we report CB oscillations in aluminum superconducting islands on InAs nanowires in the open regime. The Al island is connected to the source/drain leads through two contacts: One is fully transmitting while the other is tuned into the tunneling regime. This device configuration is typical for tunneling spectroscopy where charging energy is generally considered negligible. The oscillation periods are 2$e$ or 1$e$, depending on the gate settings. A magnetic field can induce the 2$e$ to 1$e$ transition. Our result is reminiscent of the "mesoscopic Coulomb blockade" in open quantum dots caused by electron interference.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Fine structure of current noise spectra in nanoelectromechanical resonators

We study the frequency-dependent noise of a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot nanoelectromechanical resonator induced by electron-vibration coupling. Using a rigorous Keldysh diagrammatic technique, we establish a formal framework connecting the vibrational properties to electrical measurements. We find that the noise power spectrum exhibits a narrow resonant peak at the frequency of the vibrational modes. However, this fine structure tends to disappear due to a coherent cancellation effect when the tunneling barriers are tuned to a symmetric point. Notably, measuring the electrical current noise spectra provides a sensitive alternative method for detecting the damping and dephasing of quantum vibrational modes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Quantized Andreev conductance in semiconductor nanowires

Clean one-dimensional electron systems can exhibit quantized conductance. The plateau conductance doubles if the transport is dominated by Andreev reflection. Here, we report quantized conductance observed in both Andreev and normal-state transports in PbTe-Pb and PbTe-In hybrid nanowires. The Andreev plateau is observed at $4e^2/h$, twice of the normal plateau value of $2e^2/h$. In comparison, Andreev conductance in the best-optimized III-V nanowires is non-quantized due to mode-mixing induced dips (a disorder effect), despite the quantization of normal-state transport. The negligible mode mixing in PbTe hybrids indicates an unprecedented low-disorder transport regime for nanowire devices, beneficial for Majorana researches.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Influence of topological degeneracy on the boundary Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless quantum phase transition of a dissipative resonant level

The interplay between a topological degeneracy and the residue degeneracy (also known as the residue entropy) of quantum criticality remains as an important but not thoroughly understood topic. We find that this topological degeneracy, provided by a Majorana zero mode pair, relaxes the otherwise strictly requested symmetry requirement, to observe the boundary Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) quantum phase transition (QPT) of a dissipative resonant level. Our work indicates that the topological degeneracy can be potentially viewed as an auxiliary symmetry that realizes a robust boundary QPT. The relaxation of the symmetry requirement extends the transition from a point to a finite area, thus greatly reducing the difficulty to experimentally observe the QPT. This topology-involved exotic BKT phase diagram, on the other hand, provides another piece of evidence that can further confirm the existence of a Majorana zero mode.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Gate-tunable subband degeneracy in semiconductor nanowires

Degeneracy and symmetry have a profound relation in quantum systems. Here, we report gate-tunable subband degeneracy in PbTe nanowires with a nearly symmetric cross-sectional shape. The degeneracy is revealed in electron transport by the absence of a quantized plateau. Utilizing a dual gate design, we can apply an electric field to lift the degeneracy, reflected as emergence of the plateau. This degeneracy and its tunable lifting were challenging to observe in previous nanowire experiments, possibly due to disorder. Numerical simulations can qualitatively capture our observation, shedding light on device parameters for future applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

In situ tuning of dynamical Coulomb blockade on Andreev bound states in hybrid nanowire devices

Electron interactions in quantum devices can exhibit intriguing phenomena. One example is assembling an electronic device in series with an on-chip resistor. The quantum laws of electricity of the device is modified at low energies and temperatures by dissipative interactions induced by the resistor, a phenomenon known as dynamical Coulomb blockade (DCB). The DCB strength is usually non-adjustable in a fixed environment defined by the resistor. Here, we design an on-chip circuit for InAs-Al hybrid nanowires where the DCB strength can be gate-tuned in situ. InAs-Al nanowires could host Andreev or Majorana zero-energy states. This technique enables tracking the evolution of the same state while tuning the DCB strength from weak to strong. We observe the transition from a zero-bias conductance peak to split peaks for Andreev zero-energy states. Our technique opens the door to in situ tuning interaction strength on zero-energy states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Mitigating crosstalk and residual coupling errors in superconducting quantum processors using many-body localization

Addressing the paramount need for precise calibration in superconducting quantum qubits, especially in frequency control, this study introduces a novel calibration scheme harnessing the principles of Many-Body Localization (MBL). While existing strategies, such as Google's snake algorithm, have targeted optimization of qubit frequency parameters, our MBL-based methodology emerges as a stalwart against noise, notably crosstalk and residual coupling errors, thereby significantly enhancing quantum processor fidelity and stability without necessitating extensive optimization computation. Not only does this approach provide a marked improvement in performance, particularly where specific residue couplings are present, but it also presents a more resource-efficient and cost-effective calibration process. The research delineated herein affords fresh insights into advanced calibration strategies and propels forward the domain of superconducting quantum computation by offering a robust framework for future explorations in minimizing error and optimizing qubit performance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Electrostatic environment and Majorana bound states in full-shell topological insulator nanowires

The combination of a superconductor (SC) and a topological insulator (TI) nanowire was proposed as a potential candidate for realizing Majorana zero modes (MZMs). In this study, we adopt the Schrödinger-Poisson formalism to incorporate the electrostatic environment inside the nanowire and systematically explore its topological properties. Our calculations reveal that the proximity to the SC induces a band bending effect, leading to a non-uniform potential across the TI nanowire. As a consequence, there is an upward shift of the Fermi level within the conduction band. This gives rise to the coexistence of surface and bulk states, localized in an accumulation layer adjacent to the TI-SC interface. When magnetic flux is applied, these occupied states have different flux-penetration areas, suppressing the superconducting gap. However, this impact can be mitigated by increasing the radius of the nanowire. Finally, We demonstrate that MZMs can be achieved across a wide range of parameters centered around one applied flux quantum, $ϕ_0 = h/2e$. Within this regime, MZMs can be realized even in the presence of conduction bands, which are not affected by the band bending effect. These findings provide valuable insights into the practical realization of MZMs in TI nanowire-based devices, especially in the presence of a complicated electrostatic environment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Benchmarking universal quantum gates via channel spectrum

Noise remains the major obstacle to scalable quantum computation. Quantum benchmarking provides key information on noise properties and is an important step for developing more advanced quantum processors. However, current benchmarking methods are either limited to a specific subset of quantum gates or cannot directly describe the performance of the individual target gate. To overcome these limitations, we propose channel spectrum benchmarking (CSB), a method to infer the noise properties of the target gate, including process fidelity, stochastic fidelity, and some unitary parameters, from the eigenvalues of its noisy channel. Our CSB method is insensitive to state-preparation and measurement errors, and importantly, can benchmark universal gates and is scalable to many-qubit systems. Unlike standard randomized schemes, CSB can provide direct noise information for both target native gates and circuit fragments, allowing benchmarking and calibration of global entangling gates and frequently used modules in quantum algorithms like Trotterized Hamiltonian evolution operator in quantum simulation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Differential current noise as an identifier of Andreev bound states that induce nearly quantized conductance plateaus

Quantized conductance plateaus, a celebrated hallmark of Majorana bound states (MBSs) predicted a decade ago, have recently been observed with small deviations in iron-based superconductors and hybrid nanowires. Here, we demonstrate that nearly quantized conductance plateaus can also arise from trivial Andreev bound states (ABSs). To avoid ABS interruptions, we propose identifying ABS-induced quantized conductance plateaus by measuring the associated differential current noise $P$ versus bias voltage $V$. Specifically, for a quantized conductance plateau induced by one or multiple low-energy ABSs, the associated $P(V)$ curve exhibits a double-peak around zero bias, with the peak positions at $e|V|\approx 3k_B T$ (where $T$ is the temperature) and peak values larger than $2e^3/h$. These features greatly contrast those of an MBS or quasi-MBS, whose $P(V)$ curve displays a broad zero-bias dip and is consistently below $2e^3/h$. This protocol can be practically implemented in a variety of MBS candidate platforms using an electrode or STM tip as a probe.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗