A quantum processor based on coherent transport of entangled atom arrays

The ability to engineer parallel, programmable operations between desired qubits within a quantum processor is key for building scalable quantum information systems(1,2). In most state-of-the-art approaches, qubits interact locally, constrained by the connectivity associated with their fixed spatial layout. Here we demonstrate a quantum processor with dynamic, non-local connectivity, in which entangled qubits are coherently transported in a highly parallel manner across two spatial dimensions, between layers of single- and two-qubit operations. Our approach makes use of neutral atom arrays trapped and transported by optical tweezers; hyperfine states are used for robust quantum information storage, and excitation into Rydberg states is used for entanglement generation(3–5). We use this architecture to realize programmable generation of entangled graph states, such as cluster states and a seven-qubit Steane code state(6,7). Furthermore, we shuttle entangled ancilla arrays to realize a surface code state with thirteen data and six ancillary qubits(8) and a toric code state on a torus with sixteen data and eight ancillary qubits(9). Finally, we use this architecture to realize a hybrid analogue–digital evolution(2) and use it for measuring entanglement entropy in quantum simulations(10–12), experimentally observing non-monotonic entanglement dynamics associated with quantum many-body scars(13,14). Realizing a long-standing goal, these results provide a route towards scalable quantum processing and enable applications ranging from simulation to metrology.