arXiv subjects

Sabine Tornow

Publications and source records attributed to Sabine Tornow.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nonequilibrium steady states induced by stochastic mid-circuit measurements and resets on a quantum computer

Stochastic resetting has emerged as a versatile protocol to drive quantum many-body systems to non-equilibrium steady states by interspersing unitary dynamics with measurements and resets at random times. In spite of this, a quantum hardware validation of such non-equilibrium steady states is still missing. Here, we achieve this goal by first formulating a noisy discrete-time theory where unitary gates alternate with noisy mid-circuit projective measurements and conditional resets. This noisy conditional resetting theory is then demonstrated on a superconducting quantum processor for up to $N=7$ qubits. We consider, as a paradigmatic case, the unitary dynamics of the interacting Floquet transverse-field Ising model. The stationary state of the noisy conditional resetting agrees quantitatively with the experiments, and it shows crossover behavior related to the equilibrium quantum phase transition of the model. Our results might thus pave the way for the preparation of collective stationary states on noisy quantum devices and for further developments of quantum algorithms involving mid-circuit measurements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Fractionally Quantized Recurrence Detection Times in Monitored Quantum Many-Body Systems

Recurrence time quantifies the duration required for a physical system to return to its initial state, playing a pivotal role in understanding the predictability of complex systems. In quantum systems with subspace measurements, recurrence times are governed by Anandan-Aharonov phases, yielding fractionally quantized recurrence times. However, the fractional quantization phenomenon in interacting quantum systems remains unexplored. Here, we address this gap by establishing universal lower and upper bounds for recurrence times in interacting many-body spin systems. Notably, we investigate scenarios where these bounds are approached, shedding light on the speed of quantum processes under monitoring. In specific cases, our findings reveal that the complex many-body system can be effectively mapped onto a dynamical system with a single quasi-particle, leading to integer-quantized recurrence times. Our work demonstrates a valuable link between recurrence times and the number of dark states in the system, thus providing a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between Hilbert-space fragmentation, ergodicity breaking, measurements, and interaction effects. Finally, our findings have been implemented on an IBM quantum computer, revealing resonances and fractional quantization in agreement with theoretical predictions. This demonstrates the resilience of non-equilibrium topological fractional quantization to noise and highlights its potential use for benchmarking quantum devices and probing dark states.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Monitoring of quantum walks with weak measurements

Measurements can be used to monitor the evolution of quantum systems and can give rise to quantized return statistics. It is known that the mean return time is quantized for strong monitoring through the winding number of the monitored quantum state. We discuss that under coherent weak monitoring, implemented via ancilla coupling, the mean return time of a quantum walk obeys a scaling relation with respect to the measurement strength. An analog scaling relation was previously found for random-time monitoring, indicating that weak and random-time monitoring have similar effects. We discuss how weak monitoring via ancilla coupling is linked to the unitary evolution, and how this connection can be controlled by a convergent perturbation theory.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Resonances, Recurrence Times and Steady States in Monitored Noisy Qubit Systems

We study non-equilibrium steady states and recurrence times in noisy, stroboscopically monitored qubit systems using complete measurements. In the noiseless limit, recurrence times are integer-quantized, with dips to lower integers when sampling approaches revival conditions associated with ergodicity breaking. Using an IBM quantum platform, we find that quantization is robust when sampling far from revivals, but breaks down dramatically near revivals: even weak noise produces large deviations and can invert the expected dips into pronounced peaks. To explain this behavior, we formulate a statistical-physics model of monitored noisy circuits in which monitoring drives an effective infinite-temperature steady state while thermal-like relaxation competes to favor a low-temperature limit. We show that the sampling time tunes a crossover between these regimes, near revivals stabilizing low-temperature behavior, and far from revivals restoring infinite-temperature behavior -- with noise strength and detuning acting as coupled small parameters near resonance.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Feedback Connections in Quantum Reservoir Computing with Mid-Circuit Measurements

Existing approaches to quantum reservoir computing can be broadly categorized into restart-based and continuous protocols. Restart-based methods require reinitializing the quantum circuit for each time step, while continuous protocols use mid-circuit measurements to enable uninterrupted information processing. A gap exists between these two paradigms: while restart-based methods naturally have high execution times due to the need for circuit reinitialization, they can employ novel feedback connections to enhance performance. In contrast, continuous methods have significantly faster execution times but typically lack such feedback mechanisms. In this work, we investigate a novel quantum reservoir computing scheme that integrates feedback connections, which can operate within the coherence time of a qubit. We demonstrate our architecture using a minimal example and evaluate memory capacity and predictive capabilities. We show that the correlation coefficient for the short-term memory task on past inputs is nonzero, indicating that feedback connections can effectively operate during continuous processing to allow the model to remember past inputs.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Quantum Walks: First Hitting Times with Weak Measurements

We study the first detected recurrence time problem of continuous-time quantum walks on graphs. While previous works have employed projective measurements to determine the first return time, we implement a protocol based on weak measurements on a dilated system, enabling minimally invasive monitoring throughout the evolution. To achieve this, we extend the theoretical framework and complement it with both numerical simulations and experimental investigations on an IBM quantum computer. Despite the implementation of a generalized measurement, our modified formalism of weak recurrence provides a description purely within the Hilbert space of the quantum system. Our results reveal that the first hitting time scales inversely with the coupling parameter between the ancilla and the quantum system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Resonances of recurrence time of monitored quantum walks

The recurrence time is the time a process first returns to its initial state. Using quantum walks on a graph, the recurrence time is defined through stroboscopic monitoring of the arrival of the particle to a node of the system. When the time interval between repeated measurements is tuned in such a way that eigenvalues of the unitary become degenerate, the mean recurrence time exhibits resonances. These resonances imply faster mean recurrence times, which were recorded on quantum computers. The resonance broadening is captured by a restart uncertainty relation [R. Yin, Q. Wang, S. Tornow, E. Barkai, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122, e2402912121 (2025)]. To ensure a comprehensive analysis, we extend our investigation to include the impact of system size on the widened resonances, showing how the connectivity and energy spectrum structure of a system influence the restart uncertainty relation. Breaking the symmetry of the system, for example time-reversal symmetry breaking with a magnetic flux applied to a ring, removes the degeneracy of the eigenvalues of the unitary, hence modifying the mean recurrence time and the widening of the transitions, and this effect is studied in detail. The width of resonances studied here is related to the finite time resolution of relevant experiments on quantum computers, and to the restart paradigm.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Restart uncertainty relation for monitored quantum dynamics

We introduce a novel time-energy uncertainty relation within the context of restarts in monitored quantum dynamics. Initially, we investigate the concept of ``first hitting time'' in quantum systems using an IBM quantum computer and a three-site ring graph as our starting point. Previous studies have established that the mean recurrence time, which represents the time taken to return to the initial state, is quantized as an integer multiple of the sampling time, displaying pointwise discontinuous transitions at resonances. Our findings demonstrate that, the natural utilization of the restart mechanism in laboratory experiments, driven by finite data collection time spans, leads to a broadening effect on the transitions of the mean recurrence time. Our newly proposed uncertainty relation captures the underlying essence of these phenomena, by connecting the broadening of the mean hitting time near resonances, to the intrinsic energies of the quantum system and to the fluctuations of recurrence time. This work not only contributes to our understanding of fundamental aspects related to quantum measurements and dynamics, but also offers practical insights for the design of efficient quantum algorithms with mid-circuit measurements.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Challenges and Opportunities in Quantum Optimization

Recent advances in quantum computers are demonstrating the ability to solve problems at a scale beyond brute force classical simulation. As such, a widespread interest in quantum algorithms has developed in many areas, with optimization being one of the most pronounced domains. Across computer science and physics, there are a number of different approaches for major classes of optimization problems, such as combinatorial optimization, convex optimization, non-convex optimization, and stochastic extensions. This work draws on multiple approaches to study quantum optimization. Provably exact versus heuristic settings are first explained using computational complexity theory - highlighting where quantum advantage is possible in each context. Then, the core building blocks for quantum optimization algorithms are outlined to subsequently define prominent problem classes and identify key open questions that, if answered, will advance the field. The effects of scaling relevant problems on noisy quantum devices are also outlined in detail, alongside meaningful benchmarking problems. We underscore the importance of benchmarking by proposing clear metrics to conduct appropriate comparisons with classical optimization techniques. Lastly, we highlight two domains - finance and sustainability - as rich sources of optimization problems that could be used to benchmark, and eventually validate, the potential real-world impact of quantum optimization.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

First Hitting Times on a Quantum Computer: Tracking vs. Local Monitoring, Topological Effects, and Dark States

We investigate a quantum walk on a ring represented by a directed triangle graph with complex edge weights and monitored at a constant rate until the quantum walker is detected. To this end, the first hitting time statistics is recorded using unitary dynamics interspersed stroboscopically by measurements, which is implemented on IBM quantum computers with a midcircuit readout option. Unlike classical hitting times, the statistical aspect of the problem depends on the way we construct the measured path, an effect that we quantify experimentally. First, we experimentally verify the theoretical prediction that the mean return time to a target state is quantized, with abrupt discontinuities found for specific sampling times and other control parameters, which has a well-known topological interpretation. Second, depending on the initial state, system parameters, and measurement protocol, the detection probability can be less than one or even zero, which is related to dark-state physics. Both, return-time quantization and the appearance of the dark states are related to degeneracies in the eigenvalues of the unitary time evolution operator. We conclude that, for the IBM quantum computer under study, the first hitting times of monitored quantum walks are resilient to noise. Yet, a finite number of measurements leads to broadening effects, which modify the topological quantization and chiral effects of the asymptotic theory with an infinite number of measurements. Our results point the way for the development of novel quantum walk algorithms that exploit measurement-induced effects on quantum computers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Measurement induced quantum walks on an IBM Quantum Computer

We study a quantum walk of a single particle that is subject to stroboscopic projective measurements on a graph with two sites. This two-level system is the minimal model of a measurement induced quantum walk. The mean first detected transition and return time are computed on an IBM quantum computer as a function of the hopping matrix element between the sites and the on-site potential. The experimentally monitored quantum walk reveals the theoretically predicted behavior, such as the quantization of the first detected return time and the strong increase of the mean first detected transition time near degenerate points, with high accuracy.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of a Dissipative Two-Site Hubbard Model Simulated on IBM Quantum Computers

Many-body physics is one very well suited field for testing quantum algorithms and for finding working heuristics on present quantum computers. We have investigated the non-equilibrium dynamics of one- and two-electron systems, which are coupled to an environment that introduces decoherence and dissipation. In our approach, the electronic system is represented in the framework of a two-site Hubbard model while the environment is modelled by a spin bath. To simulate the non-equilibrium population probabilities of the different states on a quantum computer we have encoded the electronic states and environmental degrees of freedom into qubits and ancilla qubits (bath), respectively. The total evolution time was divided into short time intervals, during which the system evolves. After each of these time steps, the system interacts with ancilla qubits representing the bath in thermal equilibrium. We have specifically studied spin baths leading to both, unital and non-unital dynamics of the electronic system and have found that electron correlations clearly enhance the electron transfer rates in the latter case. For short time periods, the simulation on the quantum computer is found to be in very good agreement with the exact results if error mitigation methods are applied. Our method to simulate also non-unitary time-evolution on a quantum computer can be well extended to simulate electronic systems in correlated spin baths as well as in bosonic and fermionic baths.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Multiple-charge transfer and trapping in DNA dimers

We investigate the charge transfer characteristics of one and two excess charges in a DNA base-pair dimer using a model Hamiltonian approach. The electron part comprises diagonal and off-diagonal Coulomb matrix elements such a correlated hopping and the bond-bond interaction, which were recently calculated by Starikov [E. B. Starikov, Phil. Mag. Lett. {\bf 83}, 699 (2003)] for different DNA dimers. The electronic degrees of freedom are coupled to an ohmic or a super-ohmic bath serving as dissipative environment. We employ the numerical renormalization group method in the nuclear tunneling regime and compare the results to Marcus theory for the thermal activation regime. For realistic parameters, the rate that at least one charge is transferred from the donor to the acceptor in the subspace of two excess electrons significantly exceeds the rate in the single charge sector. Moreover, the dynamics is strongly influenced by the Coulomb matrix elements. We find sequential and pair transfer as well as a regime where both charges remain self-trapped. The transfer rate reaches its maximum when the difference of the on-site and inter-site Coulomb matrix element is equal to the reorganization energy which is the case in a GC-GC dimer. Charge transfer is completely suppressed for two excess electrons in AT-AT in an ohmic bath and replaced by damped coherent electron-pair oscillations in a super-ohmic bath. A finite bond-bond interaction $W$ alters the transfer rate: it increases as function of $W$ when the effective Coulomb repulsion exceeds the reorganization energy (inverted regime) and decreases for smaller Coulomb repulsion.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Conductance Through a Redox System in the Coulomb Blockade Regime: Many-Particle Effects and Influence of Electronic Correlations

We investigate the transport characteristics of a redox system weakly coupled to leads in the Coulomb blockade regime. The redox system comprises a donor and acceptor separated by an insulating bridge in a solution. It is modeled by a two-site extended Hubbard model which includes on-site and inter-site Coulomb interactions and the coupling to a bosonic bath. The current voltage characteristics is calculated at high temperatures using a rate equation approach. For high voltages exceeding the Coulomb repulsion at the donor site the calculated transport characteristics exhibit pronounced deviations from the behavior expected from single-electron transport. Depending on the relative sizes of the effective on-site and inter-site Coulomb interactions on one side and the reorganization energy on the other side we find negative differential resistance or current enhancement.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Dissipative Exciton Transfer in Donor-Bridge-Acceptor Systems: Numerical Renormalization Group Calculation of Equilibrium Properties

We present a detailed model study of exciton transfer processes in donor-bridge-acceptor (DBA) systems. Using a model which includes the intermolecular Coulomb interaction and the coupling to a dissipative environment we calculate the phase diagram, the absorption spectrum as well as dynamic equilibrium properties with the numerical renormalization group. This method is non-perturbative and therefore allows to cover the full parameter space, especially the case when the intermolecular Coulomb interaction is of the same order as the coupling to the environment and perturbation theory cannot be applied. For DBA systems up to six sites we found a transition to the localized phase (self-trapping) depending on the coupling to the dissipative environment. We discuss various criteria which favour delocalized exciton transfer.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Electron Transfer in Donor-Acceptor Systems: Many-Particle Effects and Influence of Electronic Correlations

We investigate electron transfer processes in donor-acceptor systems with a coupling of the electronic degrees of freedom to a common bosonic bath. The model allows to study many-particle effects and the influence of the local Coulomb interaction U between electrons on donor and acceptor sites. Using the non-perturbative numerical renormalization group approach we find distinct differences between the electron transfer characteristics in the single- and two-particle subspaces. We calculate the critical electron-boson coupling alpha_c as a function of $U$ and show results for density-density correlation functions in the whole parameter space. The possibility of many-particle (bipolaronic) and Coulomb-assisted transfer is discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗