Graph-based simulation of d-dimensional curved spaces with superconducting arrays

by Prof. Claudio Chamon (Purdue University)

Tuesday 19 May 2026, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Zurich

WHGA/121

We introduce a framework for emulating graphs and, through them, curved spaces of arbitrary dimension, using arrays of superconducting wires. By discretizing a space into a graph, assigning a superconducting wire with a rigid phase to each vertex, and coupling pairs of wires through Josephson junctions along the graph edges, arbitrary geometries and topologies can be engineered in a controlled setting. The superconducting phases then realize scalar field theories on the emergent geometry. We establish experimentally realistic conditions for implementing these architectures and develop a dictionary relating measurable circuit observables to quantities in the emulated field theory. As an application, we develop the implementation of hyperbolic (Anti-de Sitter) spaces of constant negative curvature and use them as an experimentally accessible platform to explore holographic duality in arbitrary dimension. We investigate the effects of disorder in the Josephson couplings, which translate into metric variations in the bulk-boundary correspondence, and analyze their impact on boundary scaling exponents both analytically and numerically, finding that holographic duality remains robust even in the presence of strong disorder. Beyond holography, the framework opens a broad range of architectural possibilities, including the exploration of physics on highly nontrivial graphs and toy models of dynamical spacetimes.