Detail Project and Funding

Abstract: Adiabatic processes are at the core of countless experiments. They find numerous applications in
quantum simulations and quantum computing that range from adiabatic pulse sequences generating
quantum gates in superconducting platforms to the preparation of many-body states in cold atoms, to
name just a few. At the same time, adiabatic state preparation itself constitutes a computational
paradigm within adiabatic quantum computing. While the adiabatic theorem enables a variety of
applications, it is also a source of fundamental limitations both in required timescales and restricting to
ground/eigenstate conserving operations.
The project is located in the fundamental science domain but explores a novel concept as a seed for
future technological implementations in adiabatic quantum simulation and computing. Its specific goal
is to develop a comprehensive set of non-adiabatic building blocks that replace the adiabatic state
preparation by non-adiabatic processes using shortcuts to adiabaticity (STA). This fundamentally new
paradigm allows one to detach from the adiabatic limit, which currently hinders practical applications, by
introducing additional unitary quantum operations to the system. In this promising approach, only early
theory work and simplistic experiments exist so far.
In a joint effort of leading experimental and theory groups, the project will demonstrate the first two-body
STA experiment with a scalable architecture, the first STA experiment with a non-scale-invariant system,
a novel theoretical framework for STA of statistical ensembles and a novel tensor network framework
for STA.
The impact of a novel toolbox of non-adiabatic building blocks for quantum computing and quantum
simulations stems from the widespread use of adiabatic state preparation. In improving these methods
and transferring them to experiments, we expect a broad impact ranging from fundamental science
experiments to applications in commercial quantum devices. Regarding the latter, the general demand
for scalable and technologically feasible quantum optimization tools emphasized the disruptive
character of STAQS.

The Scientific Results:
1) Ferromagnetism in an Extended Coherently Coupled Atomic Superfluid
2) False vacuum decay via bubble formation in ferromagnetic superfluids
3) Progress toward a zero-magnetic-field environment for ultracold-atom experiments