Non-perturbative Floquet engineering of the toric-code Hamiltonian and its ground state

Abstract: We theoretically propose a quantum simulation scheme for the toric-code Hamiltonian, the paradigmatic model of a quantum spin liquid, based on time-periodic driving. We develop a hybrid continuous-digital strategy that exploits the commutativity of different terms in the target Hamiltonian. It allows one to realize the required four-body interactions in a nonperturbative way, attaining strong coupling and the suppression of undesired processes. In addition, we design an optimal protocol for preparing the topologically ordered ground states with high fidelity. A proof-of-principle implementation of a topological device and its use to simulate the topological phase transition are also discussed. The proposed scheme finds natural implementation in architectures of superconducting qubits with tuneable couplings.