Quantum simulation of topologically protected states using directionally unbiased linear-optical multiports
Quantum Physics
2017-08-02 v1 Optics
Abstract
It is shown that quantum walks on one-dimensional arrays of special linear-optical units allow the simulation of discrete-time Hamiltonian systems with distinct topological phases. In particular, a slightly modified version of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) system can be simulated, which exhibits states of nonzero winding number and has topologically protected boundary states. In the large-system limit this approach uses quadratically fewer resources to carry out quantum simulations than previous linear-optical approaches and can be readily generalized to higher-dimensional systems. The basic optical units that implement this simulation consist of combinations of optical multiports that allow photons to reverse direction.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1708.00038,
title = {Quantum simulation of topologically protected states using directionally unbiased linear-optical multiports},
author = {David S. Simon and Casey A. Fitzpatrick and Shuto Osawa and Alexander V. Sergienko},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.00038},
year = {2017}
}