Researchers Find Glass Behaviour On Quantum Computer

Mid-circuit measurements provide direct access to trajectory-level observables, revealing dynamical structures in many-body systems previously hidden within ensemble-averaged quantities. This capability was used to realise and study an instance of the Floquet-East model on a superconducting quantum processor. The interplay between mid-circuit measurements, kinetically constrained unitary operations and hardware noise generates complex many-body phenomena.

Analysis of trajectories derived from temporally and spatially resolved mid-circuit measurements enabled identification of dynamical heterogeneity, a key characteristic of glassy dynamics. Researchers at Universität Tübingen and The University of Nottingham contributed to this work alongside Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Rome, Italy.

Quantum computation resolves dynamical heterogeneity in glassy systems

The researchers Sapienza Università di Roma, and The University of Nottingham achieved trajectory resolution of dynamical heterogeneity, a key feature of glassy materials, with approximately 10⁵ quantum trajectories obtained within ten minutes runtime on an ibm kingston processor. Previously, investigations relied upon ensemble-averaged quantities which obscured these individual system behaviours; the new approach unlocks detailed analysis impossible before now.