Exploring synthetic quantum matter in superconducting circuits

Superconducting circuits have emerged as a competitive platform for quantum computation, satisfying the challenges of controllability, long coherence and strong interactions. Here we apply this toolbox to the exploration of strongly correlated quantum materials made of microwave photons. I will present our recent results on a new approach for preparing photonic many-body phases, where engineered dissipation is used as a resource to protect the fragile quantum states against intrinsic losses [1]. We build a strongly interacting Bose-Hubbard lattice and realize a dissipatively stabilized Mott insulator of photons. The dynamics of thermalization towards the Mott phase is probed using lattice-site- and time-resolved microscopy. In a separate experiment, we create Chern insulator lattices for microwave photons and observe topologically protected edge states [2]. I will discuss future directions to stabilize strongly correlated photonic states, study many-body dynamics in driven-dissipative settings, and engineer topological lattices to explore strongly interacting topological phases and realize robust encoding and transport of quantum information.

References: [1] R. Ma et al., A dissipatively stabilized Mott insulator of photons, Nature 566, 51–57 (2019). [2] C. Owens et al., Quarter-flux Hofstadter lattice in a qubit-compatible microwave cavity array, Phys. Rev. A 97, 013818 (2018).