Qubit spin ice

• DOI: 10.1126/science.abe2824
• Publication Date: 2021-07-15T19:15:11Z
• Authors: Andrew D. King; Cristiano Nisoli; Edward D. Dahl; Gabriel Poulin-La...; Alejandro Lopez-B...
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Quantum Physics; Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics; Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el); Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall); FOS: Physical sciences; Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

A reconfigurable spin ice

Spin ices, magnetic systems in which local spins respect the so-called ice rules, can occur in natural materials or be engineered in patterned arrays. King et al . used superconducting qubits to implement a two-dimensional artificial spin ice. By changing the strength and ratio of spin couplings, the researchers were able to access a variety of ground states. Arranging the boundary spins in an antiferromagnetic configuration and then flipping one of those spins generated a magnetic monopole in the system’s interior. —JS