LAUSR

Synthesizing many-body quantum systems with various ranges of interactions facilitates the study of quantum chaotic dynamics. Such extended interaction range can be enabled by using nonlocal degrees of freedom such as photonic modes in an otherwise locally connected structure. Here, we present a superconducting quantum simulator in which qubits are connected through an extensible photonic-bandgap metamaterial, thus realizing a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model with tunable hopping range and on-site interaction. Using individual site control and readout, we characterize the statistics of measurement outcomes from many-body quench dynamics, which enables in situ Hamiltonian learning. Further, the outcome statistics reveal the effect of increased hopping range, showing the predicted crossover from integrability to ergodicity. Our work enables the study of emergent randomness from chaotic many-body evolution and, more broadly, expands the accessible Hamiltonians for quantum simulation using superconducting circuits. Description A hybrid platform for quantum simulation Quantum simulators are typically constructed from a set of quantum particles that are controllably placed on a lattice and then allowed to interact with each other, but there are limitations. Simulators based on neutral atoms lack the flexibility to independently control and read out single atoms, trapped-ion based quantum systems are difficult to scale beyond tens of ions, and superconducting quantum circuits are limited to local interactions between qubits. Zhang et al. constructed a many-body quantum simulator by interfacing superconducting qubits with a microwave photonic bandgap metamaterial waveguide. This hybrid superconducting qubit-metamaterial approach represents a route toward developing a large-scale quantum simulator platform, extending the lattice to two dimensions and hosting a larger number of quantum particles. —ISO A superconducting qubit-metamaterial system creates a scalable lattice quantum simulator.