arXiv subjects

Wenhui Ren

Publications and source records attributed to Wenhui Ren.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

A Dual Method for Minimax Quadratic Programming

This paper investigates minimax quadratic programming problems with coupled inequality constraints. By leveraging a duality theorem, we develop a dual algorithm that extends the dual active set method to the minimax setting, transforming the original inequality constrained problem into a sequence of equality constrained subproblems. Under a suitable assumption, we prove that the associated S-pairs do not repeat and that the algorithm terminates in a finite number of iterations, guaranteed by the monotonic decrease of the objective function value. To ensure numerical stability and efficiency, the algorithm is implemented using Cholesky factorization and Givens rotations. Numerical experiments on both randomly generated minimax quadratic programs and illustrative applications demonstrate the accuracy, stability, and computational effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

math.OC↗

arXiv2025

State Similarity in Modular Superconducting Quantum Processors with Classical Communications

As quantum devices continue to scale, distributed quantum computing emerges as a promising strategy for executing large-scale tasks across modular quantum processors. A central challenge in this paradigm is verifying the correctness of computational outcomes when subcircuits are executed independently following circuit cutting. Here we propose a cross-platform fidelity estimation algorithm tailored for modular architectures. Our method achieves substantial reductions in sample complexity compared to previous approaches designed for single-processor systems. We experimentally implement the protocol on modular superconducting quantum processors with up to 6 qubits to verify the similarity of two 11-qubit GHZ states. Beyond verification, we show that our algorithm enables a federated quantum kernel method that preserves data privacy. As a proof of concept, we apply it to a 5-qubit quantum phase learning task using six 3-qubit modules, successfully extracting phase information with just eight training samples. These results establish a practical path for scalable verification and trustworthy quantum machine learning of modular quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Logical operations with a dynamical qubit in Floquet-Bacon-Shor code

Quantum error correction (QEC) protects quantum systems against inevitable noises and control inaccuracies, providing a pathway towards fault-tolerant (FT) quantum computation. Stabilizer codes, including surface code and color code, have long been the focus of research and have seen significant experimental progress in recent years. Recently proposed time-dynamical QEC, including Floquet codes and generalized time-dynamical code implementations, opens up new opportunities for FT quantum computation. By employing a periodic schedule of low-weight parity checks, Floquet codes can generate additional dynamical logical qubits, offering enhanced error correction capabilities and potentially higher code performance. Here, we experimentally implement the Floquet-Bacon-Shor code on a superconducting quantum processor. We encode a dynamical logical qubit within a $3\times 3$ lattice of data qubits, alongside a conventional static logical qubit. We demonstrate FT encoding and measurement of the two-qubit logical states, and stabilize these states using repeated error detection. We showcase universal single-qubit logical gates on the dynamical qubit. Furthermore, by implementing a logical CNOT gate, we entangle the dynamical and static logical qubits, generating an error-detected logical Bell state with a fidelity of 75.9\%. Our results highlight the potential of Floquet codes for resource-efficient FT quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Experimental observation of exact quantum critical states

Anderson localization physics features three fundamental types of eigenstates: extended, localized, and critical, with the third one exhibiting the exotic properties in-between the former two. Confirming the presence of critical states is challenging, as it typically necessitates either advancing the analysis to the thermodynamic limit or identifying a universal mechanism which can rigorously determine these states. Here we report the unambiguous experimental realization of critical states, governed by a rigorous mechanism for exact quantum critical states, and further observe a generalized mechanism that quasiperiodic zeros in hopping couplings protect the critical states. We implement a programmable quasiperiodic mosaic model with tunable couplings and on-site potentials through a multiple superconducting qubit quantum system. By measuring the time-evolving observables, we identify the coexisting delocalized dynamics and incommensurately distributed zeros in the couplings, which are the defining features of the critical states. We map the localized-to-critical phase transition and demonstrate that critical states persist until quasiperiodic zeros are removed by strong long-range couplings, highlighting a novel generalized mechanism discovered in this experiment and shown with rigorous theory. Finally, we resolve the energy-dependent transition between localized and critical states, revealing the presence of anomalous mobility edges.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Improving Quantum Optimization to Achieve Quadratic Time Complexity

Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is a promising candidate for achieving quantum advantage in combinatorial optimization. However, its variational framework presents a long-standing challenge in selecting circuit parameters. In this work, we prove that the energy expectation produced by QAOA can be expressed as a trigonometric function of the final-level mixer parameter. Leveraging this insight, we introduce Penta-O, a level-wise parameter-setting strategy that eliminates the classical outer loop, maintains minimal sampling overhead, and ensures non-decreasing performance. This method is broadly applicable to the generic quadratic unconstrained binary optimization formulated as the Ising model. For a $p$-level QAOA, Penta-O achieves an unprecedented quadratic time complexity of $\mathcal{O}(p^2)$ and a sampling overhead proportional to $5p+1$. Through experiments and simulations, we demonstrate that QAOA enhanced by Penta-O achieves near-optimal performance with exceptional circuit depth efficiency. Our work provides a versatile tool for advancing variational quantum algorithms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Synthetic $\pi$-flux system in 2D superconducting qubit array with tunable coupling

Flat-band systems provide an ideal platform for exploring exotic quantum phenomena, where the strongly suppressed kinetic energy in these flat energy bands suggests the potential for exotic phases driven by geometric structure, disorder, and interactions. While intriguing phenomena and physical mechanisms have been unveiled in theoretical models, synthesizing such systems within scalable quantum platforms remains challenging. Here, we present the experimental realization of a $\pi$-flux rhombic system using a two-dimensional superconducting qubit array with tunable coupling. We experimentally observe characteristic dynamics, e.g., $\pi$-flux driven destructive interference, and demonstrate the protocol for eigenstate preparation in this rhombic array with coupler-assisted flux. Our results provide future possibilities for exploring the interplay of geometry, interactions, and quantum information encoding in such degenerate systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

A C-Band Cryogenic GaAs MMIC Low-Noise Amplifier for Quantum Applications

Large-scale superconducting quantum computers require massive numbers of high-performance cryogenic low-noise amplifiers (cryo-LNA) for qubit readout. Here we present a C-Band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) cryo-LNA for this purpose. This cryo-LNA is based on 150 nm GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) process and implemented with a three-stage cascaded architecture, where the first stage adopts careful impedance match to optimize the noise and return loss. The integration of negative feedback loops adopted in the second and third-stage enhances the overall stability. Moreover, the pHEMT-self bias and current multiplexing circuitry structure facilitate the reduction of power consumption and require only single bias line. Operating at an ambient temperature of 3.6 K and consuming 15 mW, the cryo-LNA demonstrates good performance in the C-band, reaching a 5 K equivalent noise temperature and an average gain of 40 dB. We further benchmark this cryo-LNA with superconducting qubits, achieving an average single-shot dispersive readout fidelity of 98.3% without assistance from a quantum-limited parametric amplifier. The development of GaAs cryo-LNA diversifies technical support necessary for large-scale quantum applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Distributed multi-parameter quantum metrology with a superconducting quantum network

Quantum metrology has emerged as a powerful tool for timekeeping, field sensing, and precision measurements in fundamental physics. With the advent of distributed quantum metrology, its capabilities have extended to probing spatially distributed parameters across networked quantum systems. However, scalable implementations of distributed quantum metrology with multi-parameter estimation remain limited, particularly due to the challenges of generating and distributing entanglement across a quantum network and dealing with incompatibilities in multi-parameter quantum metrology. Here we demonstrate distributed multi-parameter quantum metrology on a modular superconducting quantum network with low-loss microwave interconnects, a platform that uniquely combines fast gate operations, adaptive control, and deterministic non-local entanglement generation. Using a control-enhanced sequential protocol, we estimate all three components of a remote vector field, achieving up to 13.72 dB improvement in precision over the individual strategy. We further perform direct estimation of vector field gradients along two directions across spatially separated nodes, realizing a 3.44 dB gain over local entanglement strategies. These results establish superconducting quantum networks as a competitive and reconfigurable platform for scalable multi-parameter distributed quantum metrology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Dephasing-assisted diffusive dynamics in superconducting quantum circuits

Random fluctuations caused by environmental noise can lead to decoherence in quantum systems. Exploring and controlling such dissipative processes is both fundamentally intriguing and essential for harnessing quantum systems to gain practical advantages and deeper insights. In this work, we first demonstrate the diffusive dynamics assisted by controlled dephasing noise in superconducting quantum circuits, contrasting with coherent evolution. We show that dephasing can give distinct dynamical behavior in a superconducting qubit array with quasiperiodic order. Furthermore, by preparing different excitation distributions in the qubit array, we observe that a more localized initial state relaxes to a uniformly distributed mixed state faster with dephasing noise, illustrating another counterintuitive phenomenon called Mpemba-effect-like quantum dynamics, i.e., a far-from-equilibrium state can relax toward the equilibrium faster. These results deepen our understanding of diffusive dynamics at the microscopic level, and demonstrate controlled dissipative processes as a valuable tool for investigating Markovian open quantum systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

M2CS: A Microwave Measurement and Control System for Large-scale Superconducting Quantum Processors

As superconducting quantum computing continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, there is a compelling demand for the innovation of specialized electronic instruments that act as crucial conduits between quantum processors and host computers. Here, we introduce a Microwave Measurement and Control System (M2CS) dedicated for large-scale superconducting quantum processors. M2CS features a compact modular design that balances overall performance, scalability, and flexibility. Electronic tests of M2CS show key metrics comparable to commercial instruments. Benchmark tests on transmon superconducting qubits further show qubit coherence and gate fidelities comparable to state-of-the-art results, confirming M2CS's capability to meet the stringent requirements of quantum experiments run on intermediate-scale quantum processors. The system's compact and scalable design offers significant room for further enhancements that could accommodate the measurement and control requirements of over 1000 qubits, and can also be adopted to other quantum computing platforms such as trapped ions and silicon quantum dots. The M2CS architecture may also be applied to wider range of scenarios, such as microwave kinetic inductance detectors, as well as phased array radar systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

In situ mixer calibration for superconducting quantum circuits

Mixers play a crucial role in superconducting quantum computing, primarily by facilitating frequency conversion of signals to enable precise control and readout of quantum states. However, imperfections, particularly carrier leakage and unwanted sideband signal, can significantly compromise control fidelity. To mitigate these defects, regular and precise mixer calibrations are indispensable, yet they pose a formidable challenge in large-scale quantum control. Here, we introduce an in situ calibration technique and outcome-focused mixer calibration scheme using superconducting qubits. Our method leverages the qubit's response to imperfect signals, allowing for calibration without modifying the wiring configuration. We experimentally validate the efficacy of this technique by benchmarking single-qubit gate fidelity and qubit coherence time.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Digital simulation of non-Abelian anyons with 68 programmable superconducting qubits

Non-Abelian anyons are exotic quasiparticle excitations hosted by certain topological phases of matter. They break the fermion-boson dichotomy and obey non-Abelian braiding statistics: their interchanges yield unitary operations, rather than merely a phase factor, in a space spanned by topologically degenerate wavefunctions. They are the building blocks of topological quantum computing. However, experimental observation of non-Abelian anyons and their characterizing braiding statistics is notoriously challenging and has remained elusive hitherto, in spite of various theoretical proposals. Here, we report an experimental quantum digital simulation of projective non-Abelian anyons and their braiding statistics with up to 68 programmable superconducting qubits arranged on a two-dimensional lattice. By implementing the ground states of the toric-code model with twists through quantum circuits, we demonstrate that twists exchange electric and magnetic charges and behave as a particular type of non-Abelian anyons, i.e., the Ising anyons. In particular, we show experimentally that these twists follow the fusion rules and non-Abelian braiding statistics of the Ising type, and can be explored to encode topological logical qubits. Furthermore, we demonstrate how to implement both single- and two-qubit logic gates through applying a sequence of elementary Pauli gates on the underlying physical qubits. Our results demonstrate a versatile quantum digital approach for simulating non-Abelian anyons, offering a new lens into the study of such peculiar quasiparticles.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Experimental quantum adversarial learning with programmable superconducting qubits

Quantum computing promises to enhance machine learning and artificial intelligence. Different quantum algorithms have been proposed to improve a wide spectrum of machine learning tasks. Yet, recent theoretical works show that, similar to traditional classifiers based on deep classical neural networks, quantum classifiers would suffer from the vulnerability problem: adding tiny carefully-crafted perturbations to the legitimate original data samples would facilitate incorrect predictions at a notably high confidence level. This will pose serious problems for future quantum machine learning applications in safety and security-critical scenarios. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of quantum adversarial learning with programmable superconducting qubits. We train quantum classifiers, which are built upon variational quantum circuits consisting of ten transmon qubits featuring average lifetimes of 150 $μ$s, and average fidelities of simultaneous single- and two-qubit gates above 99.94% and 99.4% respectively, with both real-life images (e.g., medical magnetic resonance imaging scans) and quantum data. We demonstrate that these well-trained classifiers (with testing accuracy up to 99%) can be practically deceived by small adversarial perturbations, whereas an adversarial training process would significantly enhance their robustness to such perturbations. Our results reveal experimentally a crucial vulnerability aspect of quantum learning systems under adversarial scenarios and demonstrate an effective defense strategy against adversarial attacks, which provide a valuable guide for quantum artificial intelligence applications with both near-term and future quantum devices.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Many-body Hilbert space scarring on a superconducting processor

Quantum many-body scarring (QMBS) -- a recently discovered form of weak ergodicity breaking in strongly-interacting quantum systems -- presents opportunities for mitigating thermalization-induced decoherence in quantum information processsing. However, the existing experimental realizations of QMBS are based on kinetically-constrained systems where an emergent dynamical symmetry "shields" such states from the thermalizing bulk of the spectrum. Here, we experimentally realize a distinct kind of QMBS phenomena by approximately decoupling a part of the many-body Hilbert space in the computational basis. Utilizing a programmable superconducting processor with 30 qubits and tunable couplings, we realize Hilbert space scarring in a non-constrained model in different geometries, including a linear chain as well as a quasi-one-dimensional comb geometry. By performing full quantum state tomography on 4-qubit subsystems, we provide strong evidence for QMBS states by measuring qubit population dynamics, quantum fidelity and entanglement entropy following a quench from initial product states. Our experimental findings broaden the realm of QMBS mechanisms and pave the way to exploiting correlations in QMBS states for applications in quantum information technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Observation of a symmetry-protected topological time crystal with superconducting qubits

We report the observation of a symmetry-protected topological time crystal, which is implemented with an array of programmable superconducting qubits. Unlike the time crystals reported in previous experiments, where spontaneous breaking of the discrete time translational symmetry occurs for local observables throughout the whole system, the topological time crystal observed in our experiment breaks the time translational symmetry only at the boundaries and has trivial dynamics in the bulk. More concretely, we observe robust long-lived temporal correlations and sub-harmonic temporal response for the edge spins up to 40 driving cycles. We demonstrate that the sub-harmonic response is independent of whether the initial states are random product states or symmetry-protected topological states, and experimentally map out the phase boundary between the time crystalline and thermal phases. Our work paves the way to exploring peculiar non-equilibrium phases of matter emerged from the interplay between topology and localization as well as periodic driving, with current noisy intermediate-scale quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Synthesizing five-body interaction in a superconducting quantum circuit

Synthesizing many-body interaction Hamiltonian is a central task in quantum simulation. However, it is challenging to synthesize interactions including more than two spins. Borrowing tools from quantum optics, we synthesize five-body spin-exchange interaction in a superconducting quantum circuit by simultaneously exciting four independent qubits with time-energy correlated photon quadruples generated from a qudit. During the dynamic evolution of the five-body interaction, a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state is generated in a single step with fidelity estimated to be $0.685$. We compare the influence of noise on the three-, four- and five-body interaction as a step toward answering the question on the quantum origin of chiral molecules. We also demonstrate a many-body Mach-Zehnder interferometer which potentially has a Heisenberg-limit sensitivity. This study paves a way for quantum simulation involving many-body interactions and high excited states of quantum circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Stark many-body localization on a superconducting quantum processor

Quantum emulators, owing to their large degree of tunability and control, allow the observation of fine aspects of closed quantum many-body systems, as either the regime where thermalization takes place or when it is halted by the presence of disorder. The latter, dubbed many-body localization (MBL) phenomenon, describes the non-ergodic behavior that is dynamically identified by the preservation of local information and slow entanglement growth. Here, we provide a precise observation of this same phenomenology in the case the onsite energy landscape is not disordered, but rather linearly varied, emulating the Stark MBL. To this end, we construct a quantum device composed of thirty-two superconducting qubits, faithfully reproducing the relaxation dynamics of a non-integrable spin model. Our results describe the real-time evolution at sizes that surpass what is currently attainable by exact simulations in classical computers, signaling the onset of quantum advantage, thus bridging the way for quantum computation as a resource for solving out-of-equilibrium many-body problems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Simultaneous excitation of two noninteracting atoms with time-frequency correlated photon pairs in a superconducting circuit

Here we report the first observation of simultaneous excitation of two noninteracting atoms by a pair of time-frequency correlated photons in a superconducting circuit. The strong coupling regime of this process enables the synthesis of a three-body interaction Hamiltonian, which allows the generation of the tripartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state in a single step with a fidelity as high as 0.95. We further demonstrate the quantum Zeno effect of inhibiting the simultaneous two-atom excitation by continuously measuring whether the first photon is emitted. This work provides a new route in synthesizing many-body interaction Hamiltonian and coherent control of entanglement.

physics.optics↗