On fixed-gap adiabatic quantum computation

Abstract: Quantum computation has revolutionary potential for speeding algorithms and for simulating quantum systems such as molecules. We report here a quantum computer design that performs universal quantum computation within a single non-degenerate ground state protected from decohering noise by an energy gap that we argue is system-size-independent. Closely analogous to a traditional electric circuit, it substantially changes the requirements for quantum computer construction, easing measurement, timing, and heating problems. Using the standard adiabatic condition, we present evidence that this design permits "quantum concurrent processing" distributing a quantum computation among extra qubits to perform a quantum algorithm of N gates in an amount of time that scales with the square root of N. One consequence of our work is a fixed gap version of adiabatic quantum computation, which several arguments hinted could be impossible.