Spectroscopic signatures of localization with interacting photons in superconducting qubits

Abstract

Putting photons to work Interacting quantum particles can behave in peculiar ways. To understand that behavior, physicists have turned to quantum simulation, in which a tunable and clean system can be monitored as it evolves under the influence of interactions. Roushan et al. used a chain of nine superconducting qubits to create effective interactions between normally noninteracting photons and directly measured the energy levels of their system. The interplay of interactions and disorder gave rise to a transition to a localized state. With an increase in the number of qubits, the technique should be able to tackle problems that are inaccessible to classical computers. Science , this issue p. 1175