Dmitri Babikov of Marquette University and Martin Gruebele of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign are supported by an award from the Theory, Models and Computational Methods program of the Chemistry division to develop computational methodologies to study the problem of encoding information in vibrational wave packets by entangling polyatomic vibrations. The PI's goal is to assess whether molecules or molecular ions could help quantum information processing. Some of the theoretical predictions are tested using experiments carried out on jets of neutral molecules at low temperature. Although these test experiments do not correspond to true quantum computing, they allow achieving and utilizing a high degree of coherence. They also give rise to important information on how the coherent vibrational wave packets evolve as well as the effect of various sources of dephasing. Theory and experiment are combined to achieve gates with up to 4 qubits (e.g. Shor's algorithm for factorizing the number 15) with rotationally and vibrationally excited states of the thiophosgene molecule. The PIs and their students study the effects of decoherence induced by molecular rotations, field inhomogeneities, and vibrational states not part of the computing states are being explored.
Quantum computing and quantum information are emerging fields that attempt to use the special, and often non-intuitive, properties of quantum mechanics to enable calculations that are very difficult or even impossible using current technology. Experimental demonstration of vibrational QC using a polyatomic molecule opens up new opportunities for the practical realization of a quantum processor. A series of interdisciplinary seminars are planned to take place at both Marquette University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on the topics of Quantum Control and Quantum Information.
