Emergent Dissipation from Fluctuating Quantum-Network Topology

Alireza Nourmandipour; Stefano Mancini

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2610.03194

Emergent Dissipation from Fluctuating Quantum-Network Topology

Alireza Nourmandipour·Stefano Mancini

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We investigate how dissipation can emerge in a quantum network from temporal fluctuations of the interaction topology. For a network whose graph is redrawn at short time intervals, the averaged dynamics yields a Markovian master equation: the mean network fixes the coherent part and the covariance fixes the dissipative structure. The covariance eigenvalues set the noise strengths, while its eigenvectors determine the collective operators on which those strengths act. Two ensembles with identical mean adjacency and covariance spectra but different eigenvectors produce distinct dynamics despite identical purity. A physically realizable model yields an analytically predicted dissipative gap, giving quasi-protected dynamics. These results establish fluctuating connectivity as a resource for engineering quantum dissipation and protection.

Explore related subjects

quant-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Alireza Nourmandipour, Stefano Mancini. 2026-10-02. Emergent Dissipation from Fluctuating Quantum-Network Topology. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03194

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Quantum simulation of wave optics in weakly inhomogeneous media using block-encoding

We propose a quantum algorithm that simulates the propagation of a light field through a weakly inhomogeneous medium. In the paraxial approximation, the wave equation in an inhomogeneous material takes the form of the Schrödinger equation with a time-dependent Hamiltonian. This reduction is used to simulate wave optical dynamics on a quantum computer. Beam propagator operators for a short propagation distance are constructed using an efficient and flexible block-encoding that enables the simulation of various optical setups. The algorithm is showcased by simulating the propagation of a one-dimensional Gaussian beam through a lens of finite thickness, and the resulting spherical aberration is demonstrated.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Towards quantum computing Feynman diagrams in hybrid qubit-oscillator devices

We show that recent experiments in hybrid qubit-oscillator devices that measure the phase-space characteristic function of the oscillator via the qubit can be seen through the lens of functional calculus and path integrals, drawing a clear analogy with the generating functional of a quantum field theory. This connection suggests an expansion of the characteristic function in terms of Feynman diagrams, exposing the role of the real-time bosonic propagator, and identifying the external source functions with certain time-dependent couplings that can be controlled experimentally. By applying maximum-likelihood techniques, we show that the ``measurement'' of these Feynman diagrams can be reformulated as a problem of multi-parameter point estimation that takes as input a set of Ramsey-type measurements of the qubit. By numerical simulations that consider leading imperfections in trapped-ion devices, we identify the optimal regimes in which Feynman diagrams could be reconstructed from measured data with low systematic and stochastic errors. We discuss how these ideas can be generalized to finite temperatures via the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, contributing to a bottom-up approach to probe quantum simulators of lattice field theories by systematically increasing the qubit-oscillator number.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum Mechanics as a Reversible Diffusion Theory

This paper proposes an interpretation of quantum mechanics, relying on the time-symmetric stochastic dynamics of quantum particles and on non-classical probability theory. Our main purpose is to demonstrate that the wave function and its complex conjugate can be interpreted as complex probability distributions in two complex diffusion equations related to non-real forward and backward in time stochastic motions respectively. We say non-real because Schroedinger forward and backward diffusions describe both reversible (real trajectories) and irreversible trajectories (non-real trajectories). The reversible trajectories are the only real trajectories and are given by the intersection of those forward and backward processes. It turns out that if we translate this intersection using set-theoretic language, we are led to a reversible diffusion described by Born rule probabilities. This proposal is useful also for explaining more about the role of complex numbers in quantum mechanics that produces this so-called "wave-like" nature of quantum reality. Our perspective also challenges the notion of physical superposition and aims at a derivation of superposition principle not based on the linearity of Schroedinger's equation but relying on pure probability theory. Moreover, it is suggested that, embracing the idea of stochastic processes in quantum theory, explains the reasons for the appearance of classical behavior in large objects, in contrast to the quantum behavior of small ones. In other words, we claim that a combination of a probabilistic and no-ontic view (neither epistemic though) of the wave function with a stochastic hidden-variables approach, may provide some insight into the quantum physical reality and potentially establish the groundwork for a novel interpretation of quantum mechanics.

quant-ph↗