Symmetries and model reduction in a $\cos 2φ$ transmon qubit

Abstract

Engineered symmetries in superconducting circuits can protect quantum information; much like selection rules in atomic physics, they forbid transitions between the qubit states. Protected circuits, however, combine several loops and islands and host multiple nonlinearly coupled modes, calling for reduced low-energy models that inherit the circuit symmetries and make the protection manifest. We develop such a reduction for the $\cos 2φ$ transmon qubit, recently realized experimentally with a two-Cooper-pair interferometer, whose circuit hosts three coupled modes. Exploiting the separation of energy scales between the heavy transmon mode and the light internal modes of the interferometer, we derive an effective single-band Born-Oppenheimer model, including its geometric correction, and extend it to several bands. We identify the symmetries of the full and reduced Hamiltonians and derive exact selection rules. Finally, we identify a parameter regime beyond the single-band description that suppresses flux-noise dephasing without degrading charge-noise protection.