Beat Röthlisberger

Contact

Department of Physics
University of Basel
Klingelbergstrasse 82
CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
office:4.7b

email:view address

tel: +41 (0)61 267 36 95 (office)


CV

2004Bachelor in Physics from the University of Basel
2006Master in Physics from the University of Basel
2006 - present  PhD student


Research interests



Publications

Show all abstracts.

1.  Incoherent dynamics in the toric code subject to disorder
Beat Röthlisberger, James R. Wootton, Robert M. Heath, Jiannis K. Pachos, and Daniel Loss.
Phys. Rev. A 85, 022313 (2012); arXiv:1112.1613.

We numerically study the effects of two forms of quenched disorder on the anyons of the toric code. Firstly, a new class of codes based on random lattices of stabilizer operators is presented, and shown to be superior to the standard square lattice toric code for certain forms of biased noise. It is further argued that these codes are close to optimal, in that they tightly reach the upper bound of error thresholds beyond which no correctable CSS codes can exist. Additionally, we study the classical motion of anyons in toric codes with randomly distributed onsite potentials. In the presence of repulsive long-range interaction between the anyons, a surprising increase with disorder strength of the lifetime of encoded states is reported and explained by an entirely incoherent mechanism. Finally, the coherent transport of the anyons in the presence of both forms of disorder is investigated, and a significant suppression of the anyon motion is found.

2.  libCreme: An optimization library for evaluating convex-roof entanglement measures
Beat Röthlisberger, Jörg Lehmann, and Daniel Loss.
Comput. Phys. Comm. 183, 155 (2012); arXiv:1107.4497.

We present the software library libCreme which we have previously used to successfully calculate convex-roof entanglement measures of mixed quantum states appearing in realistic physical systems. Evaluating the amount of entanglement in such states is in general a non-trivial task requiring to solve a highly non-linear complex optimization problem. The algorithms provided here are able to achieve to do this for a large and important class of entanglement measures. The library is mostly written in the Matlab programming language, but is fully compatible to the free and open-source Octave platform. Some inefficient subroutines are written in C/C++ for better performance. This manuscript discusses the most important theoretical concepts and workings of the algorithms, focussing on the actual implementation and usage within the library. Detailed examples in the end should make it easy for the user to apply libCreme to specific problems.

3.  A Self-Correcting Quantum Memory in a Thermal Environment
Stefano Chesi, Beat Röthlisberger, and Daniel Loss.
Phys. Rev. A 82, 022305 (2010); arXiv:0908.4264.

The ability to store information is of fundamental importance to any computer, be it classical or quantum. Identifying systems for quantum memories which rely, analogously to classical memories, on passive error protection ('self-correction') is of greatest interest in quantum information science. While systems with topological ground states have been considered to be promising candidates, a large class of them was recently proven unstable against thermal fluctuations. Here, we propose new two-dimensional (2D) spin models unaffected by this result. Specifically, we introduce repulsive long-range interactions in the toric code and establish a memory lifetime polynomially increasing with the system size. This remarkable stability is shown to originate directly from the repulsive long-range nature of the interactions. We study the time dynamics of the quantum memory in terms of diffusing anyons and support all our analytical results with extensive numerical simulations. Our findings demonstrate that self-correcting quantum memories can exist in 2D at finite temperatures.

4.  Quantum Computing with Electron Spins in Quantum Dots
Robert Andrzej Żak, Beat Röthlisberger, Stefano Chesi, and Daniel Loss.
Lecture notes for Course CLXXI "Quantum Coherence in Solid State Systems" Int. School of Physics "Enrico Fermi", Varenna, July 2008.
arXiv:0906.4045

Several topics on the implementation of spin qubits in quantum dots are reviewed. We first provide an introduction to the standard model of quantum computing and the basic criteria for its realization. Other alternative formulations such as measurement-based and adiabatic quantum computing are briefly discussed. We then focus on spin qubits in single and double GaAs electron quantum dots and review recent experimental achievements with respect to initialization, coherent manipulation and readout of the spin states. We extensively discuss the problem of decoherence in this system, with particular emphasis on its theoretical treatment and possible ways to overcome it.

5.  Numerical evaluation of convex-roof entanglement measures with applications to spin rings
Beat Röthlisberger, Jörg Lehmann, and Daniel Loss.
Phys. Rev. A 80, 042301 (2009); arXiv:0905.3106.

We present two ready-to-use numerical algorithms to evaluate convex-roof extensions of arbitrary pure-state entanglement monotones. Their implementation leaves the user merely with the task of calculating derivatives of the respective pure-state measure. We provide numerical tests of the algorithms and demonstrate their good convergence properties. We further employ them in order to investigate the entanglement in particular few-spins systems at finite temperature. Namely, we consider ferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange-coupled spin-1/2 rings subject to an inhomogeneous in-plane field geometry obeying full rotational symmetry around the axis perpendicular to the ring through its center. We demonstrate that highly entangled states can be obtained in these systems at sufficiently low temperatures and by tuning the strength of a magnetic field configuration to an optimal value which is identified numerically.

6.  Highly Entangled Ground States in Tripartite Qubit Systems
Beat Röthlisberger, Jörg Lehmann, D. S. Saraga, Philipp Traber, and Daniel Loss.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 100502 (2008); arXiv:0705.1710.

We investigate the creation of highly entangled ground states in a system of three exchange-coupled qubits arranged in a ring geometry. Suitable magnetic field configurations yielding approximate GHZ and exact W ground states are identified. The entanglement in the system is studied at finite temperature in terms of the mixed-state tangle tau. By adapting a steepest-descent optimization algorithm we demonstrate that tau can be evaluated efficiently and with high precision. We identify the parameter regime for which the equilibrium entanglement of the tripartite system reaches its maximum.