Yujia YuanPhysical systems · Stanford EE

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NMR quantum system simulation

ScaleAtom
PlaceWaterloo · IQC course track
FieldQuantum information
Period2018 — 2020
Fig. 1 — Linear ion-trap apparatus referenced in the review.
Fig. 1 — Linear ion-trap apparatus referenced in the review.
Fig. 2 — Dilution refrigerator from the lab visit that started the physics arc.
Fig. 2 — Dilution refrigerator from the lab visit that started the physics arc.

Problem. Quantum control is difficult to understand from equations alone. The connection between internal states, motional states, detuning, sideband transitions, and measurement becomes much clearer when the dynamics are simulated and then compared with hand-derived expectations.

What we did. The work included simulating detuned NMR Rabi oscillations in QuTiP and writing an extensive technical review of trapped-ion quantum computers. The review covered linear Paul traps, internal and motional states, laser-driven gates, sideband interactions, CNOT construction, measurement, and decoherence.

Result. This became an early end-to-end numerical simulation project and a structured self-study path through quantum hardware. The QuTiP experience later became directly useful for simulating behavior of neutral-atom quantum computers.