Quantum Simulation Of An Avian Compass In An NMR System

Avians have the capacity to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field. This capac-ity is called avian magnetoreception (or avian magnetoception) and was first discoveredmore than forty years ago in certain species of birds. In spite of this phenomenon’s exis-tence being discovered some time ago, it is still not well understood. There is a body ofevidence that this avian compass relies on quantum mechanical efects to be realized andthat these efects are mediated by radical pairs. The reference-and-probe model is a wide-ly used quantum avian compass that meets all discovered experimental requirements. Itis a simplified chemical compass model, relying on one electron spin bound to hyperfinecoupling environment and another free from it. This paper simulates this model to testits agreement with theory. Further understanding of this avian compass may lead to anew technologies, like very sensitive compasses capable of discerning small diferencesin magnetic fields.Quantum computation has undergone rapid development since its advent. It hasofered the promise of faster computation than classical computation, spurring researchersonward to realize a quantum computer. Quantum computation also ofers the possibilityof efciently simulating quantum systems, which is is a process by which a one quantumsystem that an experimenter can manipulate simulates another quantum system. In thispaper, we realize an optimized reference-and-probe avian compass model using quantumsimulation in an nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum processor. The NMR wasone of the earliest devices to perform quantum simulations. It has many methods availablefor control Quantum logic gates and the compass Hamiltonian were implemented with theGRAPE algorithm. Key aspects of the reference-and-probe model were computed usingGaussian quadrature methods. We realized the first simulated avian compass in an NMRsystem.