Adiabatic quantum simulations with driven superconducting qubits

Abstract

We propose a quantum simulator based on driven superconducting qubits where the interactions are generated parametrically by a bichromatic magnetic flux modulation of a tunable bus element. Using a time-dependent Schrieffer-Wolff transformation, we analytically derive a multiqubit Hamiltonian which features independently tunable XX- and YY-type interactions as well as local bias fields over a large parameter range. We demonstrate the adiabatic simulation of the ground state of a hydrogen molecule using two superconducting qubits and one tunable bus element. The time required to reach chemical accuracy lies in the few microsecond range. Therefore, the proposed adiabatic protocol could be implemented using currently available superconducting circuits. Further applications of this technique may also be found in the simulation of interacting spin systems.