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Quantum-controlled synthetic materials

arXiv Quantum Physics
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⚡ Quantum Brief
Researchers led by Andrei Vrajitoarea and Jonathan Simon demonstrated a breakthrough hybrid quantum system merging analog simulators with digital control, published February 2026. Their approach embeds digital qubit control into analog quantum materials. The team entangled an ancilla qubit with a Bose-Hubbard circuit’s lattice potential, creating superpositions of different lattice configurations. This Hamiltonian-level control enables unprecedented manipulation of many-body quantum states. The method produces novel strongly correlated states where solid and fluid photon phases coexist simultaneously. Photons exhibit quantum superpositions of matter phases, a first in synthetic materials. Using adiabatic disorder introduction, they localized photons into an entangled cat state. A many-body echo technique further enhanced coherence, showcasing precise quantum state engineering. This hybrid platform advances quantum sensing and materials characterization, offering a scalable path to entangle quantum computers with both synthetic and solid-state quantum matter.
Quantum-controlled synthetic materials

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Quantum Physics arXiv:2602.06108 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 5 Feb 2026] Title:Quantum-controlled synthetic materials Authors:Andrei Vrajitoarea, Gabrielle Roberts, Kaden R. A. Hazzard, Jonathan Simon, David I. Schuster View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum-controlled synthetic materials, by Andrei Vrajitoarea and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Analog quantum simulators and digital quantum computers are two distinct paradigms driving near-term applications in modern quantum science, from probing many-body phenomena to identifying computational advantage over classical systems. A transformative opportunity on the horizon is merging the high-fidelity many-body evolution in analog simulators with the robust control and measurement of digital machines. Such a hybrid platform would unlock new capabilities in state preparation, characterization and dynamical control. Here, we embed digital quantum control in the analog evolution of a synthetic quantum material by entangling the lattice potential landscape of a Bose-Hubbard circuit with an ancilla qubit. This Hamiltonian-level control induces dynamics under a superposition of different lattice configurations and guides the many-body system to novel strongly-correlated states where different phases of matter coexist -- ordering photons into superpositions of solid and fluid eigenstates. Leveraging hybrid control modalities, we adiabatically introduce disorder to localize the photons into an entangled cat state and enhance its coherence using a many-body echo technique. This work illustrates the potential for entangling quantum computers with quantum matter -- synthetic and solid-state -- for advantage in sensing and materials characterization. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) Cite as: arXiv:2602.06108 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2602.06108v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.06108 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Andrei Vrajitoarea [view email] [v1] Thu, 5 Feb 2026 18:59:26 UTC (1,555 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Quantum-controlled synthetic materials, by Andrei Vrajitoarea and 4 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-02 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.quant-gas References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)

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Source: arXiv Quantum Physics