The use of multilevel information carriers, also known as qudits, is a promising path for exploring scalability of quantum computing devices. Here we present a proof-of-principle realization of a quantum processor register that uses optically addressed ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}$ ion qudits in a linear trap. The rich level structure of ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}$ ions allows using the Zeeman sublevels of the quadrupole clock transition at 435.5 nm for efficient and robust qudit encoding. We demonstrate the realization of the universal set of gates consisting of single-qudit rotations and a two-qudit Mølmer-Sørensen operation with a two-ququart system, which is formally equivalent to a universal gate-based four-qubit processor. Our results paves a way toward further studies of more efficient implementations of quantum algorithms with trapped-ion-based processors and, specifically, exploring properties of ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}$ ion qudits.

We demonstrate a quantum processor based on a 3D linear Paul trap that uses ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}$ ions with eight individually controllable four-level qudits (ququarts), which is computationally equivalent to a sixteen-qubit quantum processor. The design of the developed ion trap provides high secular frequencies and a low heating rate, which, together with individual addressing and readout optical systems, allows executing quantum algorithms. In each of the eight ions, we use four electronic levels coupled by E2 optical transition at 435 nm for qudit encoding. We present the results of single- and two-qubit operations benchmarking and realizing basic quantum algorithms, including the Bernstein–Vazirani and Grover’s search algorithms as well as H₂ and LiH molecular simulations. Our results pave the way to scalable qudit-based quantum processors using trapped ions.

Scalable quantum computers hold the promise to solve hard computational problems, such as prime factorization, combinatorial optimization, simulation of many-body physics, and quantum chemistry. While being key to understanding many real-world phenomena, simulation of nonconservative quantum dynamics presents a challenge for unitary quantum computation. In this work, we focus on simulating nonunitary parity-time-symmetric systems, which exhibit a distinctive symmetry-breaking phase transition as well as other unique features that have no counterpart in closed systems. We show that a qutrit, a three-level quantum system, is capable of realizing this nonequilibrium phase transition. By using two physical platforms, an array of trapped ions and a superconducting transmon, and by controlling their three energy levels in a digital manner, we experimentally simulate the parity-time-symmetry-breaking phase transition. Our results indicate the potential advantage of multilevel (qudit) processors in simulating physical effects, where additional accessible levels can play the role of a controlled environment.

An efficient implementation of the Toffoli gate is of conceptual importance for running various quantum algorithms, including Grover's search and Shor's integer factorization. However, direct implementation of the Toffoli gate either entails a prohibitive increase in the number of two-qubit gates or requires ancilla qubits, whereas both of these resources are limited in the current generation of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a scalable N-qubit Toffoli gate improvement using ^{171}Yb^{+} trapped-ion-based optical-metastable-ground encoded qutrits for the cases of up to N=10. With the use of the Mølmer-Sørensen gate as a basic entangling operation, we compare the standard qubit decomposition with the qutrit approach, where upper levels are used as ancillae. The presented decomposition requires only global control of the ancilla levels, which simplifies experimental implementation of the proposed approach. Using the example of a three-qubit Grover's search, we also demonstrate an increase in the algorithm's accuracy by monitoring the leakage from the qubit subspace during a qutrit-based Toffoli gate implementation.

Optical atomic clocks are currently one of the most sensitive tools making it possible to precisely test the fundamental symmetry properties of spacetime and Einstein’s theory of relativity. At the same time, the extremely high stability and accuracy of compact transportable optical clocks open new perspectives in important fields, such as satellite navigation, relativistic geodesy, and the global time and frequency network. Our project aimed to develop a compact transportable optical clock based on a single ytterbium ion. We present the first prototype of the Yb${}^{+}$ clock (298 kg in 1 m${}^3$) and present several solutions aimed to improve the clock’s robustness to approach the demands of a space-qualified system. We present spectroscopic studies of a 435.5 nm quadrupole clock transition with Fourier-limited spectra of 25 Hz. The estimated instability of the output frequency at 1 GHz, which was down-converted with an optical frequency comb (OFC), is at the level of $9\times {10}^{-15}/\sqrt{\tau }$, and the long-term instability and inaccuracy are at the level of $5\times {10}^{-16}$. As the next steps, we present a new design for the clock laser and the OFC.

The use of multilevel quantum information carriers, also known as qudits, has attracted significant interest as a way of further scaling quantum computing devices. However, such multilevel systems usually express shorter coherence time than their two-level counterparts, which limits their computational potential. We thus propose and experimentally demonstrate two approaches for realizing the continuous dynamical decoupling of magnetic-sensitive states with m_F = ±1 for qudits encoded in optical transition of trapped ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ions. We improve the coherence time of qudit levels by an order of magnitude (more than 9 ms) without any magnetic shielding, revealing the potential advantage of the symmetry of the ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ion energy structure for counteracting magnetic field noise. Our results are a step toward realizing qudit-based algorithms using trapped ions.