Preparation of a Laughlin-like fractional Chern insulator on a superconducting quantum processor
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Kamil Dutkiewicz, Bárbara Andrade, Geza Giedke, Tobias Grass · arXiv: 2610.41017v1 · Summary page
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A small quantum processor hosts a fractional quantum state
Fractional Chern insulators are lattice states in which collective quantum behavior can support excitations with properties unlike those of ordinary particles. Researchers used classically optimized quantum circuits on an IBM Nighthawk superconducting processor to prepare a bosonic state resembling the Laughlin state of fractional quantum Hall physics. Their target used a torus geometry, avoiding physical edges that can complicate the interpretation of a small system.
Measured particle densities and correlations reproduced characteristic features of the target ground state and a state containing quasiholes. Reconstructed currents also revealed circulation associated with those quasiholes. The work offers a route toward studying fractionalized excitations with programmable hardware, but preparing these patterns is not yet the same as measuring topological invariants or demonstrating anyonic braiding.
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