Quantum information with Rydberg atoms

Abstract

Rydberg atoms with principal quantum number $n⪢1$ have exaggerated atomic properties including dipole-dipole interactions that scale as ${n}^{4}$ and radiative lifetimes that scale as ${n}^{3}$. It was proposed a decade ago to take advantage of these properties to implement quantum gates between neutral atom qubits. The availability of a strong long-range interaction that can be coherently turned on and off is an enabling resource for a wide range of quantum information tasks stretching far beyond the original gate proposal. Rydberg enabled capabilities include long-range two-qubit gates, collective encoding of multiqubit registers, implementation of robust light-atom quantum interfaces, and the potential for simulating quantum many-body physics. The advances of the last decade are reviewed, covering both theoretical and experimental aspects of Rydberg-mediated quantum information processing.