Quantum devices might be used to solve to solve hard optimization problems. A first step toward this goal has being achieved at University of Maryland, where a joint theory and experimental collaboration led to the experimental realization of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). By using a cryogenic trapped-ion quantum simulator we run the QAOA with up to 40 qubits, the largest realization to date. Check out our paper on  PNAS!

• Quantum Approximate Optimization with a Trapped-Ion Quantum Simulator, G. Pagano, A. Bapat, P. Becker, K. S. Collins, A. De, P. W. Hess, H. B. Kaplan, A. Kyprianidis, W. L. Tan, C. Baldwin, L. T. Brady, A. Deshpande, F. Liu, S. Jordan, A. V. Gorshkov, C. Monroe, Proc. Natl. Ac. Sci., 2006, 373117 (2020)

We conducted a detailed study designing a reliable scheme for transporting and merging arbitrary pairs of two-electron atoms in optical tweezers to entangle them via optically-gated spin-exchange interactions, leading to a collisional gate scheme that is largely insensitive to beam pointing and intensity fluctuations. Our paper got the front cover of Advanced Quantum Technologies!

• Fast and scalable quantum information processing with two-electron atoms in optical tweezer arrays, G. Pagano, F. Scazza, M. Foss-Feig, Adv. Quantum Technol., 1800067 (2019).

We are an experimental research group at the Physics and Astronomy Department at Rice University. We use individual atoms as carriers of information and control precisely their mutual interactions. For more details, please have a look at our research directions!