Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds

Alex H. Rubin; Brian Marinelli; Victoria A. Norman; Zainab Rizvi; Ashlyn D. Burch; Ravi K. Naik; John Mark Kreikebaum; Matthew N.H. Chow; Daniel S. Lobser; Melissa C. Revelle; Christopher G. Yale; Megan Ivory; David I. Santiago; Christopher Spitzer; Marina Marinkovic; Susan M. Clark; Irfan Siddiqi; Marina Radulaski

doi:10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0

Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds

Alex H. Rubin, Brian Marinelli, Victoria A. Norman, Zainab Rizvi, Ashlyn D. Burch, Ravi K. Naik, John Mark Kreikebaum, Matthew N.H. Chow, Daniel S. Lobser, Melissa C. Revelle, Christopher G. Yale, Megan Ivory, David I. Santiago, Christopher Spitzer, Marina Marinkovic, Susan M. Clark, Irfan Siddiqi, Marina Radulaski

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open cavity quantum electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity-emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.

Original language	English
Article number	045057
Journal	Quantum Science and Technology
Volume	10
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0
State	Published - Dec 1 2025
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Authors acknowledge support by Noyce Foundation, National Science Foundation CAREER program (Award 2047564), the UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives of the University of California (Grant No. M23PL5936), Google Research Scholar Fellowship, and the Pauli Center for Theoretical Study. This material was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Quantum Testbed Program under contracts DE-AC02-05CH11231 and DE-NA0003525. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-NA0003525. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Keywords

cavity QED
error mitigation
quantum simulation

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10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0

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Rubin, A. H., Marinelli, B., Norman, V. A., Rizvi, Z., Burch, A. D., Naik, R. K., Mark Kreikebaum, J., Chow, M. N. H., Lobser, D. S., Revelle, M. C., Yale, C. G., Ivory, M., Santiago, D. I., Spitzer, C., Marinkovic, M., Clark, S. M., Siddiqi, I., & Radulaski, M. (2025). Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds. Quantum Science and Technology, 10(4), Article 045057. https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0

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title = "Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds",

abstract = "We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open cavity quantum electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity-emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.",

keywords = "cavity QED, error mitigation, quantum simulation",

author = "Rubin, \{Alex H.\} and Brian Marinelli and Norman, \{Victoria A.\} and Zainab Rizvi and Burch, \{Ashlyn D.\} and Naik, \{Ravi K.\} and \{Mark Kreikebaum\}, John and Chow, \{Matthew N.H.\} and Lobser, \{Daniel S.\} and Revelle, \{Melissa C.\} and Yale, \{Christopher G.\} and Megan Ivory and Santiago, \{David I.\} and Christopher Spitzer and Marina Marinkovic and Clark, \{Susan M.\} and Irfan Siddiqi and Marina Radulaski",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0",

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Rubin, AH, Marinelli, B, Norman, VA, Rizvi, Z, Burch, AD, Naik, RK, Mark Kreikebaum, J, Chow, MNH, Lobser, DS, Revelle, MC, Yale, CG, Ivory, M, Santiago, DI, Spitzer, C, Marinkovic, M, Clark, SM, Siddiqi, I & Radulaski, M 2025, 'Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds', Quantum Science and Technology, vol. 10, no. 4, 045057. https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ae0af0

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AU - Rubin, Alex H.

AU - Marinelli, Brian

AU - Norman, Victoria A.

AU - Rizvi, Zainab

AU - Burch, Ashlyn D.

AU - Naik, Ravi K.

AU - Mark Kreikebaum, John

AU - Chow, Matthew N.H.

AU - Lobser, Daniel S.

AU - Revelle, Melissa C.

AU - Yale, Christopher G.

AU - Ivory, Megan

AU - Santiago, David I.

AU - Spitzer, Christopher

AU - Marinkovic, Marina

AU - Clark, Susan M.

AU - Siddiqi, Irfan

AU - Radulaski, Marina

PY - 2025/12/1

Y1 - 2025/12/1

N2 - We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open cavity quantum electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity-emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.

AB - We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open cavity quantum electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity-emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.

KW - cavity QED

KW - error mitigation

KW - quantum simulation

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M1 - 045057

ER -

Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds

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Keywords

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