A nuclear spin can act as a quantum switch that turns on or off ultracold collisions between atoms even when there is neither interaction between nuclear spins nor between the nuclear and electron spins. This “exchange blockade” is a new mechanism for implementing quantum logic gates that arises from the symmetry of composite identical particles, rather than direct coupling between qubits. We study the implementation of the entangling $\sqrt{\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate based on this mechanism for a model system of two atoms, each with ground electronic configuration ${}^{1}S_0$, spin $1/2$ nuclei, and trapped in optical tweezers. We evaluate a proof-of-principle protocol based on adiabatic evolution of a one-dimensional double Gaussian well, calculating fidelities of operation as a function of interaction strength, gate time, and temperature.

• Received 25 September 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.070501