Experimental demonstration of quantum transport enhancement using time-reversal symmetry breaking on a silicon photonic chip

The continuous-time quantum walk is a basic model for studying quantum transport and developing quantum-enhanced algorithms. Recent studies show that by introducing a phase into the standard continuous-time quantum walk model, the time-reversal symmetry can be broken without changing the Hermitian property of the Hamiltonian. The time-reversal symmetry breaking quantum walk shows advantages in quantum transport, such as perfect state transfer, directional control, transport speedup, and quantum transport efficiency enhancement. In this work, we implement the time-reversal symmetry breaking quantum walks on a reconfigurable silicon photonic chip and demonstrate the enhancement introduced by breaking time-reversal symmetry. Perfect state transfer on a three-site ring, a quantum switch implemented on a six-site graph, and transport speedup using a linear chain of triangles are demonstrated with high fidelity. Time-reversal asymmetry has also been used in a simplified light-harvesting model, implying the potential of time-reversal symmetry breaking in photosynthesis investigations.