I work at the interface between theory and experiment. Right now, our group is launching an experimental effort to explore some quantum information using qubits, which are two-state systems—the quantum version of a classical bit. We want to use superconducting qubits, together with microwave waveguides and cavities, for both analog quantum simulation and quantum computation. In an analog quantum simulation, you couple some elements together in such a way that you emulate another quantum system or model, simply by virtue of what the elements are and how you’ve connected things.
Analog quantum simulations can yield new insights, but a world of possibilities opens up with quantum computation. We are developing our fabrication, software, and instrumentation to study new ideas in quantum error detection and correction, some of which are being developed right here at Caltech. For us, analog quantum simulation will be an important stepping stone on the way to performing quantum computations, as we will be able to benchmark our capabilities and gain experience. In doing so I hope to make some connections to the condensed matter research I was doing in graduate school, and interface with theorists here in the IQIM and elsewhere.