Quantum simulation of macro and micro quantum phase transition from paramagnetism to frustrated magnetism with a superconducting circuit

Abstract

We devise a scalable scheme for simulating a quantum phase transition from paramagnetism to frustrated magnetism in a superconducting flux-qubit network, and we show how to characterize this system experimentally both macroscopically and microscopically. The proposed macroscopic characterization of the quantum phase transition is based on the transition of the probability distribution for the spin-network net magnetic moment with this transition quantified by the difference between the Kullback-Leibler divergences of the distributions corresponding to the paramagnetic and frustrated magnetic phases with respect to the probability distribution at a given time during the transition. Microscopic characterization of the quantum phase transition is performed using the standard local-entanglement-witness approach. Simultaneous macro and micro characterizations of quantum phase transitions would serve to verify a quantum phase transition in two ways especially in the quantum realm for the classically intractable case of frustrated quantum magnetism.

13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted in New Journal of Physics