DOE OSTI · 3376390
Digital quantum magnetism on a trapped-ion quantum computer
Abstract
Digital quantum matter—realized when discrete quantum gates approximate continuous time evolution—is susceptible to heating into chaotic, structureless states. If digitization errors are adequately suppressed, a long-lived transient regime of approximately energy-conserving dynamics can be observed on gate-based quantum computers. Conservation of energy, in turn, enables the exploration of a wide variety of complex behaviours observed in equilibrium systems, ranging from the non-trivial microscopic origins of thermalization itself to the stabilization of effective models hosting exotic emergent properties. Here we use Quantinuum’s H2 quantum computer to simulate digitized dynamics of the quantum Ising model, suppressing digitization errors well enough to observe thermalization on timescales that severely challenge classical simulation methods. Relaxation of an inhomogeneous state reveals an emergent hydrodynamics owing to approximate energy conservation and we compute the associated diffusion constant. By reprogramming our simulations to take place on a triangular lattice with periodic boundary conditions, we observe thermalization consistent with emergent gauge and topological constraints resulting from lattice frustration. Furthermore, our results were enabled by continued advances in two-qubit gate quality (native partial entangler fidelities of 99.94(1)%) and establish digital quantum computers as powerful tools for studying (effectively) continuous-time dynamics.
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Haghshenas, R. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Chertkov, E. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000259571356), Mills, M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000325604129), Kadow, W. [Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany); Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000179470782), Lin, S.-H. [Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany); Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich (Germany); Quantinuum, Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000285990378), Chen, Y. H. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000297638566), Cade, C. [Fermioniq, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)], Niesen, I. [Fermioniq, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)], Begušić, T. [University of Würzburg (Germany); California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)], Rudolph, M. S. [Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000312611442), Cirstoiu, C. [Quantinuum, Cambridge (United Kingdom)], Hémery, K. [Quantinuum, Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:000000017086593X), Mc Keever, C. [Quantinuum, London (United Kingdom)], Lubasch, M. [Quantinuum, London (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000226369936), Granet, E. [Quantinuum, Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000265947022), Baldwin, C. H. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Bartolotta, J. P. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000197912345), Bohn, M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Burau, J. J. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Cline, J. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], DeCross, M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000294598140), Dreiling, J. M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:000000019226203X), Foltz, C. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000189332172), Francois, D. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Gaebler, J. P. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Gilbreth, C. N. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Gray, J. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)], Gresh, D. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hall, A. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hankin, A. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hansen, A. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hewitt, N. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000210210795), Holliman, C. A. [Quantinuum K.K., Chiyoda (Japan)], Hutson, R. B. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Iqbal, M. [Quantinuum, Munich (Germany)], Kotibhaskar, N. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Lehman, E. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Lucchetti, D. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Madjarov, I. S. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Mayer, K. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Milne, A. R. [Quantinuum, London (United Kingdom)], Moses, S. A. [AWS Center for Quantum Computing, Pasadena, CA (United States); Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Neyenhuis, B. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Park, G. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000022818488X), Perry, A. R. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Ponsioen, B. [Fermioniq, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)] (ORCID:0000000215582344), Schecter, M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Siegfried, P. E. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000201452899), Stephen, D. T. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Tiemann, B. G. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Urmey, M. D. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000217141980), Walker, J. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0009000984811057), Potter, A. C. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Hayes, D. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)], Chan, G. K.-L. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000180096038), Pollmann, F. [Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany); Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000303209304), Knap, M. [Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany); Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000270939502), Dreyer, H. [Quantinuum, Munich (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000214806406), Foss-Feig, M. [Quantinuum, Broomfield, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000274290157). 2026-04-29. Digital quantum magnetism on a trapped-ion quantum computer. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10445-3
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