We analyze the reading and initialization of a topological qubit encoded by Majorana fermions in one-dimensional semiconducting nanowires, weakly coupled to a single level quantum dot （QD）. It is shown that when the Majorana fermions are fused by tuning gate voltage, the topological qubit can be read out directly through the occupation of the QD in an energy window. The initialization of the qubit can also be realized via adjusting the gate voltage on the QD, with the total fermion parity conserved. As a result, both reading and initialization processes can be achieved in an all-electrical way.
Based on the rapid experimental developments of circuit QED,we propose a feasible scheme to simulate the spin-boson model with superconducting circuits,which can be used to detect quantum Kosterlitz-Thouless(KT) phase transition.We design the spinboson model by using a superconducting phase qubit coupled to a semi-infinite transmission line,which is regarded as a bosonic reservoir with a continuum spectrum.By tuning the bias current or the coupling capacitance,the quantum KT transition can be directly detected through tomography measurement on the states of the phase qubit.We also estimate the experimental parameters using the numerical renormalization group method.
We propose a scheme to achieve a kind of nontrivial multipartite pair-wise controlled phase operation in a cavity QED setup. The operation implemented is of geometrical nature and is not sensitive to the thermal state of the cavity. In particular, we have managed to avoid the conventional dispersive coupling so that high speed gate operation is achieved which is very important in view of decoherence. We show that this multipartite pair-wise controlled phase operation makes the generation of two-dimensional cluster states very efficient.
