A Triangular Ladder of Superconducting Qubits for Quantum Simulation

The electrical properties of materials result from their underlying lattice geometry and the interactions between the constituent particles. However, to explore new parameter regimes where novel material properties may exist, natural materials can fall short in controllability and tunability. Analog quantum simulators allow us to explore synthetic quantum materials in previously inaccessible parameter regimes using coherent engineered quantum systems. Here, we use coupled frequency-tunable transmon qubits to realize a strongly interacting triangular ladder lattice for microwave photons. The triangular ladder geometry offers a rich playground to study the crossover from 1D to 2D by varying the energy detuning and coupling strength between lattice sites. Additionally, we can engineer tunable synthetic gauge fields to investigate the interplay between geometric frustration and strong interactions. We probe these effects via the many-body spectroscopy and the quantum walk dynamics of initially localized photons. I will present numerical simulations and our experimental progress.