Falci G, Fazio R, Palma GM, Siewert J, Vedral V
Dipartimento di Metodologie Fisiche e Chimiche, Universita di Catania, Italy.
Nature. 2000 Sep 21;407(6802):355-8. doi: 10.1038/35030052.
When a quantum-mechanical system undergoes an adiabatic cyclic evolution, it acquires a geometrical phase factor' in addition to the dynamical one; this effect has been demonstrated in a variety of microscopic systems. Advances in nanotechnology should enable the laws of quantum dynamics to be tested at the macroscopic level, by providing controllable artificial two-level systems (for example, in quantum dots and superconducting devices). Here we propose an experimental method to detect geometric phases in a superconducting device. The setup is a Josephson junction nanocircuit consisting of a superconducting electron box. We discuss how interferometry based on geometrical phases may be realized, and show how the effect may be applied to the design of gates for quantum computation.
