arXiv subjects

Jan Gukelberger

Publications and source records attributed to Jan Gukelberger.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

20 Second Parity Lifetime in an InAs--Pb Tetron Device

A central promise of topological quantum computing is that increasing the excitation gap improves device performance significantly. Here, we experimentally validate this principle in an InAs--Pb tetron device via interferometric single-shot parity measurements. By replacing aluminum with the higher-gap superconductor lead in our superconductor-semiconductor hybrid devices, we have improved the robustness of our topological phase. In addition, to enable fast and precise bring-up at scale, we have developed an rf measurement technique that resolves low-energy wire-end states and directly measures their energy splitting with $\mu\text{eV}$ precision. We employ this technique to bring up a device in a multi-tetron array and perform parity measurements of one of the tetron's hybrid nanowires (NWs). By controllably switching the wire parity, we observe $h/2e$-periodic bimodal shifts in the quantum capacitance of a quantum dot coupled to the hybrid nanowire in an interference loop. Further time-resolved measurements reveal a characteristic parity switching time of $\sim 20$ s with some instances reaching minute-scale. Such extremely long parity lifetimes are orders of magnitude longer than typical qubit operation times, which are on the order of $\mu\text{s}$. Finally, we discuss potential implications for the fidelity of Pauli measurements.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Distinct Lifetimes for $X$ and $Z$ Loop Measurements in a Majorana Tetron Device

We present a hardware realization and measurements of a tetron qubit device in a superconductor-semiconductor heterostructure. The device architecture contains two parallel superconducting nanowires, which support four Majorana zero modes (MZMs) when tuned into the topological phase, and a trivial superconducting backbone. Two distinct readout interferometers are formed by connecting the superconducting structure to a series of quantum dots. We perform single-shot interferometric measurements of the fermion parity for the two loops, designed to implement Pauli-$X$ and $Z$ measurements of the tetron. Performing repeated single-shot measurements yields two widely separated time scales $\tau_X = 14.5\pm 0.3 \, \mathrm{\mu s}$ and $\tau_Z = 12.4\pm 0.4\, \mathrm{ms}$ for parity switches observed in the $X$ and $Z$ measurement loops, which we attribute to intra-wire parity switches and external quasiparticle poisoning, respectively. We estimate assignment errors of $\mathrm{err}^X_a=16\%$ and $\mathrm{err}^Z_a=0.5\%$ for $X$ and $Z$ measurement-based operations, respectively.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Response to recent comments on Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 (2023) and Subsection S4.3 of the Supp. Info. for Nature 638, 651-655 (2025)

The topological gap protocol (TGP) is a statistical test designed to identify a topological phase with high confidence and without human bias. It is used to determine a promising parameter regime for operating topological qubits. The protocol's key metric is the probability of incorrectly identifying a trivial region as topological, referred to as the false discovery rate (FDR). Two recent manuscripts [arXiv:2502.19560, arXiv:2503.08944] engage with the topological gap protocol and its use in Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 (2023) and Subsection S4.3 of the Supplementary Information for Nature 638, 651-655 (2025), although they do not explicitly dispute the main results of either one. We demonstrate that the objections in arXiv:2502.19560 and arXiv:2503.08944 are unfounded, and we uphold the conclusions of Phys. Rev. B 107, 245423 (2023) and Nature 638, 651-655 (2025). Specifically, we show that no flaws have been identified in our estimate of the false discovery rate (FDR). We provide a point-by-point rebuttal of the comments in arXiv:2502.19560 and arXiv:2503.08944.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Predictive simulations of the dynamical response of mesoscopic devices

As the complexity of mesoscopic quantum devices increases, simulations are becoming an invaluable tool for understanding their behavior. This is especially true for the superconductor-semiconductor heterostructures used to build Majorana-based topological qubits, where quantitatively understanding the interplay of topological superconductivity, disorder, semiconductor quantum dots, Coulomb blockade and noise has been essential for progress on device design and interpretation of measurements. In this paper, we describe a general framework to simulate the low-energy quantum dynamics of such complex systems. We illustrate our approach by computing the dispersive gate sensing (DGS) response of quantum dots coupled to topological superconductors. We start by formulating the DGS response as an open-system quantum dynamics problem, which allows a consistent treatment of drive backaction as well as quantum and classical noise. For microscopic quantum problems subject to Coulomb-blockade, where a direct solution in the exponentially large many-body Hilbert space would be prohibitive, we introduce a series of controlled approximations that incorporate ideas from tensor network theory and quantum chemistry to reduce this Hilbert space to a few low-energy degrees of freedom that accurately capture the low-energy quantum dynamics. We demonstrate the methods introduced in this paper on the example of a single quantum dot coupled to a topological superconductor and a microscopic realization of the fermion parity readout setup of Aghaee et al. arXiv:2401.09549 (2024).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Roadmap to fault tolerant quantum computation using topological qubit arrays

We describe a concrete device roadmap towards a fault-tolerant quantum computing architecture based on noise-resilient, topologically protected Majorana-based qubits. Our roadmap encompasses four generations of devices: a single-qubit device that enables a measurement-based qubit benchmarking protocol; a two-qubit device that uses measurement-based braiding to perform single-qubit Clifford operations; an eight-qubit device that can be used to show an improvement of a two-qubit operation when performed on logical qubits rather than directly on physical qubits; and a topological qubit array supporting lattice surgery demonstrations on two logical qubits. Devices that enable this path require a superconductor-semiconductor heterostructure that supports a topological phase, quantum dots and coupling between those quantum dots that can create the appropriate loops for interferometric measurements, and a microwave readout system that can perform fast, low-error single-shot measurements. We describe the key design components of these qubit devices, along with the associated protocols for demonstrations of single-qubit benchmarking, Clifford gate execution, quantum error detection, and quantum error correction, which differ greatly from those in more conventional qubits. Finally, we comment on implications and advantages of this architecture for utility-scale quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Interferometric Single-Shot Parity Measurement in an InAs-Al Hybrid Device

The fusion of non-Abelian anyons or topological defects is a fundamental operation in measurement-only topological quantum computation. In topological superconductors, this operation amounts to a determination of the shared fermion parity of Majorana zero modes. As a step towards this, we implement a single-shot interferometric measurement of fermion parity in indium arsenide-aluminum heterostructures with a gate-defined nanowire. The interferometer is formed by tunnel-coupling the proximitized nanowire to quantum dots. The nanowire causes a state-dependent shift of these quantum dots' quantum capacitance of up to 1 fF. Our quantum capacitance measurements show flux h/2e-periodic bimodality with a signal-to-noise ratio of 1 in 3.7 $\mu$s at optimal flux values. From the time traces of the quantum capacitance measurements, we extract a dwell time in the two associated states that is longer than 1 ms at in-plane magnetic fields of approximately 2 T. These results are consistent with a measurement of the fermion parity encoded in a pair of Majorana zero modes that are separated by approximately 3 $\mu$m and subjected to a low rate of poisoning by non-equilibrium quasiparticles. The large capacitance shift and long poisoning time enable a parity measurement error probability of 1%.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

InAs-Al Hybrid Devices Passing the Topological Gap Protocol

We present measurements and simulations of semiconductor-superconductor heterostructure devices that are consistent with the observation of topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes. The devices are fabricated from high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases in which quasi-one-dimensional wires are defined by electrostatic gates. These devices enable measurements of local and non-local transport properties and have been optimized via extensive simulations to ensure robustness against non-uniformity and disorder. Our main result is that several devices, fabricated according to the design's engineering specifications, have passed the topological gap protocol defined in Pikulin et al. [arXiv:2103.12217]. This protocol is a stringent test composed of a sequence of three-terminal local and non-local transport measurements performed while varying the magnetic field, semiconductor electron density, and junction transparencies. Passing the protocol indicates a high probability of detection of a topological phase hosting Majorana zero modes as determined by large-scale disorder simulations. Our experimental results are consistent with a quantum phase transition into a topological superconducting phase that extends over several hundred millitesla in magnetic field and several millivolts in gate voltage, corresponding to approximately one hundred micro-electron-volts in Zeeman energy and chemical potential in the semiconducting wire. These regions feature a closing and re-opening of the bulk gap, with simultaneous zero-bias conductance peaks at both ends of the devices that withstand changes in the junction transparencies. The extracted maximum topological gaps in our devices are 20-60 $\mu$eV. This demonstration is a prerequisite for experiments involving fusion and braiding of Majorana zero modes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Electronic structure of InAs and InSb surfaces: density functional theory and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

The electronic structure of surfaces plays a key role in the properties of quantum devices. However, surfaces are also the most challenging to simulate and engineer. Here, we study the electronic structure of InAs(001), InAs(111), and InSb(110) surfaces using a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). We were able to perform large-scale first principles simulations and capture effects of different surface reconstructions by using DFT calculations with a machine-learned Hubbard U correction [npj Comput. Mater. 6, 180 (2020)]. To facilitate direct comparison with ARPES results, we implemented a "bulk unfolding" scheme by projecting the calculated band structure of a supercell surface slab model onto the bulk primitive cell. For all three surfaces, we find a good agreement between DFT calculations and ARPES. For InAs(001), the simulations clarify the effect of the surface reconstruction. Different reconstructions are found to produce distinctive surface states. For InAs(111) and InSb(110), the simulations help elucidate the effect of oxidation. Owing to larger charge transfer from As to O than from Sb to O, oxidation of InAs(111) leads to significant band bending and produces an electron pocket, whereas oxidation of InSb(110) does not. Our combined theoretical and experimental results may inform the design of quantum devices based on InAs and InSb semiconductors, e.g., topological qubits utilizing the Majorana zero modes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Band bending profile and band offset extraction at semiconductor-metal interfaces

The band alignment of semiconductor-metal interfaces plays a vital role in modern electronics, but remains difficult to predict theoretically and measure experimentally. For interfaces with strong band bending a main difficulty originates from the in-built potentials which lead to broadened and shifted band spectra in spectroscopy measurements. In this work we present a method to resolve the band alignment of buried semiconductor-metal interfaces using core level photoemission spectroscopy and self-consistent electronic structure simulations. As a proof of principle we apply the method to a clean in-situ grown InAs(100)/Al interface, a system with a strong in-built band bending. Due to the high signal-to-noise ratio of the core level spectra the proposed methodology can be used on previously inaccessible semiconductor-metal interfaces and support targeted design of novel hybrid devices and form the foundation for a interface parameter database for specified synthesis processes of semiconductor-metal systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Giant pressure dependence and dimensionality switching in a metal-organic quantum antiferromagnet

We report an extraordinary pressure dependence of the magnetic interactions in the metal-organic system [(CuF$_2$(H$_2$O)$_2$)$_2$pyrazine]. At zero pressure, this material realizes a quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) spin-1/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet. By high-pressure, high-field susceptibility measurements we show that the dominant exchange parameter is reduced continuously by a factor of 2 upon compression. Above 18 kbar, a phase transition occurs, inducing an orbital re-ordering that switches the dimensionality, transforming the Q2D lattice into weakly coupled chains (Q1D). We explain the microscopic mechanisms for both phenomena by combining detailed x-ray and neutron diffraction results with quantitative modeling using spin-polarized density functional theory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Ising Antiferromagnet in the 2D Hubbard Model with Mismatched Fermi Surfaces

We study the phase diagram of the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model with spin-dependent anisotropic hopping at half-filling. The system develops Ising antiferromagnetic long-range order already at infinitesimal repulsive interaction strength in the ground state. Outside the perturbative regime, unbiased predictions for the critical temperatures of the Ising antiferromagnet are made for representative interaction values by a variety of state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo methods, including the diagrammatic Monte Carlo, continuous-time determinantal Monte Carlo and path-integral Monte Carlo methods. Our findings are relevant to ultracold atom experiments in the p-orbital or with spin-dependent optical lattices.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach for diagrammatic extensions of dynamical mean-field theory -- convergence analysis of the dual fermion technique

The dual-fermion approach provides a formally exact prescription for calculating properties of a correlated electron system in terms of a diagrammatic expansion around dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). Most practical implementations, however, neglect higher-order interaction vertices beyond two-particle scattering in the dual effective action and further truncate the diagrammatic expansion in the two-particle scattering vertex to a leading-order or ladder-type approximation. In this work we compute the dual-fermion expansion for the two-dimensional Hubbard model including all diagram topologies with two-particle interactions to high orders by means of a stochastic diagrammatic Monte Carlo algorithm. We benchmark the obtained self-energy against numerically exact Diagrammatic Determinant Monte Carlo simulations to systematically assess convergence of the dual-fermion series and the validity of these approximations. We observe that, from high temperatures down to the vicinity of the DMFT Néel transition, the dual-fermion series converges very quickly to the exact solution in the whole range of Hubbard interactions considered ($4 \leq U/t \leq 12$), implying that contributions from higher-order vertices are small. As the temperature is lowered further, we observe slower series convergence, convergence to incorrect solutions, and ultimately divergence. This happens in a regime where magnetic correlations become significant. We find however that the self-consistent particle-hole ladder approximation yields reasonable and often even highly accurate results in this regime.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing as leading instability on the square lattice

We study attractively interacting spin-1/2 fermions on the square lattice subject to a spin population imbalance. Using unbiased diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulations we find an extended region in the parameter space where the Fermi liquid is unstable towards formation of Cooper pairs with non-zero center-of-mass momentum, known as the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. In contrast to earlier mean-field and quasi-classical studies we provide quantitative and well-controlled predictions on the existence and location of the relevant Fermi-liquid instabilities. The highest temperature where the FFLO instability can be observed is about half of the superfluid transition temperature in the unpolarized system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

On the dangers of partial diagrammatic summations: Benchmarks for the two-dimensional Hubbard model in the weak-coupling regime

We study the two-dimensional Hubbard model in the weak-coupling regime and compare the self-energy obtained from various approximate diagrammatic schemes to the result of diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulations, which sum up all weak-coupling diagrams up to a given order. While dynamical mean-field theory provides a good approximation for the local part of the self-energy, including its frequency dependence, the partial summation of bubble and/or ladder diagrams typically yields worse results than second order perturbation theory. Even widely used self-consistent schemes such as GW or the fluctuation-exchange approximation (FLEX) are found to be unreliable. Combining the dynamical mean-field self-energy with the nonlocal component of GW in GW+DMFT yields improved results for the local self-energy and nonlocal self-energies of the correct order of magnitude, but here, too, a more reliable scheme is obtained by restricting the nonlocal contribution to the second order diagram. FLEX+DMFT is found to give accurate results in the low-density regime, but even worse results than FLEX near half-filling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

p-wave Superfluidity by Spin-Nematic Fermi Surface Deformation

We study attractively interacting fermions on a square lattice with dispersion relations exhibiting strong spin-dependent anisotropy. The resulting Fermi surface mismatch suppresses the s-wave BCS-type instability, clearing the way for unconventional types of order. Unbiased sampling of the Feynman diagrammatic series using Diagrammatic Monte Carlo methods reveals a rich phase diagram in the regime of intermediate coupling strength. Instead of a proposed Cooper-pair Bose metal phase [A. E. Feiguin and M. P. A. Fisher, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 025303 (2009)] we find an incommensurate density wave at strong anisotropy and two different p-wave superfluid states with unconventional symmetry at intermediate anisotropy.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Galois Conjugates of Topological Phases

Galois conjugation relates unitary conformal field theories (CFTs) and topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) to their non-unitary counterparts. Here we investigate Galois conjugates of quantum double models, such as the Levin-Wen model. While these Galois conjugated Hamiltonians are typically non-Hermitian, we find that their ground state wave functions still obey a generalized version of the usual code property (local operators do not act on the ground state manifold) and hence enjoy a generalized topological protection. The key question addressed in this paper is whether such non-unitary topological phases can also appear as the ground states of Hermitian Hamiltonians. Specific attempts at constructing Hermitian Hamiltonians with these ground states lead to a loss of the code property and topological protection of the degenerate ground states. Beyond this we rigorously prove that no local change of basis can transform the ground states of the Galois conjugated doubled Fibonacci theory into the ground states of a topological model whose Hermitian Hamiltonian satisfies Lieb-Robinson bounds. These include all gapped local or quasi-local Hamiltonians. A similar statement holds for many other non-unitary TQFTs. One consequence is that the "Gaffnian" wave function cannot be the ground state of a gapped fractional quantum Hall state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Microscopic models of interacting Yang-Lee anyons

Collective states of interacting non-Abelian anyons have recently been studied mostly in the context of certain fractional quantum Hall states, such as the Moore-Read state proposed to describe the physics of the quantum Hall plateau at filling fraction v = 5/2. In this manuscript, we further expand this line of research and present non-unitary generalizations of interacting anyon models. In particular, we introduce the notion of Yang-Lee anyons, discuss their relation to the so-called `Gaffnian' quantum Hall wave function, and describe an elementary model for their interactions. A one-dimensional version of this model -- a non-unitary generalization of the original golden chain model -- can be fully understood in terms of an exact algebraic solution and numerical diagonalization. We discuss the gapless theories of these chain models for general su(2)_k anyonic theories and their Galois conjugates. We further introduce and solve a one-dimensional version of the Levin-Wen model for non-unitary Yang-Lee anyons.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Coulomb gas transitions in three-dimensional classical dimer models

Close-packed, classical dimer models on three-dimensional, bipartite lattices harbor a Coulomb phase with power-law correlations at infinite temperature. Here, we discuss the nature of the thermal phase transition out of this Coulomb phase for a variety of dimer models which energetically favor crystalline dimer states with columnar ordering. For a family of these models we find a direct thermal transition from the Coulomb phase to the dimer crystal. While some systems exhibit (strong) first-order transitions in correspondence with the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm, we also find clear numerical evidence for continuous transitions. A second family of models undergoes two consecutive thermal transitions with an intermediate paramagnetic phase separating the Coulomb phase from the dimer crystal. We can describe all of these phase transitions in one unifying framework of candidate field theories with two complex Ginzburg-Landau fields coupled to a U(1) gauge field. We derive the symmetry-mandated Ginzburg-Landau actions in these field variables for the various dimer models and discuss implications for their respective phase transitions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗