Programmable quantum simulators for materials discovery

Quantum materials exhibit emergent phenomena that may enhance the performance of devices and enable new applications. However, predicting the properties of materials in strongly-correlated regimes is difficult due to the limitations of classical simulation tools. Quantum simulators based on quantum processors without error correction may supplement classical tools to accelerate the discovery and design of new materials. Here we report on our progress developing quantum simulators based on configurations of neutral atoms with Rydberg-mediated interactions. Under suitable control protocols, these simulators realize lattice spin models with dynamic connectivity graphs that map onto various physical models, such as the spin-exchange interaction realizing spin transport and the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction realizing magnetic skyrmions. To experimentally realize these models with more than a thousand spins, we present efficient algorithms to solve reconfiguration problems, low-latency feedback systems to actuate multiplexed arrays of laser beams, and closed-loop optimization routines to prepare large, homogeneous arrays of optical traps.