Preparation of a Laughlin-like fractional Chern insulator on a superconducting quantum processor

arXiv:2610.41017v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) are lattice analogues of fractional quantum Hall states, hosting topological order and fractionalized anyonic excitations. Their realization poses a demanding target for quantum simulation. Here, we realize a bosonic FCI on an IBM Nighthawk superconducting quantum processor using classically optimized variational circuits. We target a Laughlin-like state that is an exact zero-energy ground state of a long-range parent Hamiltonian on a torus, eliminating physical edges and providing a favorable geometry for accessing fractional quantum Hall physics in a small system. On a $4\times4$ qubit lattice, we prepare both the four-boson FCI ground state and a three-boson state hosting two quasiholes.