Magnetic Memory and Hysteresis from Quantum Transitions: Theory and Experiments on Quantum Annealers

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2507.18079v1
• Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2025 04:03:04 GMT
• Title: Magnetic Memory and Hysteresis from Quantum Transitions: Theory and Experiments on Quantum Annealers
• Authors: Frank Barrows, Elijah Pelofske, Pratik Sathe, Francesco Caravelli, Cristiano Nisoli,
• Abstract summary: We present a conceptual framework that explains the observed behavior by combining two-level-Zener transitions via a first-order piecewise- propagator with semiclassical domain-wall kinetics.<n>Our framework reproduces the measured densities, loops, shapes, and longitudinal sweep-rate scaling trends observed data from three different D-Wave annealers.<n>These results establish programmable quantum annealers as powerful testbeds for exploring memory-endowed non-equilibrium dynamics in quantumbody systems.
• Score: 0.6990493129893112
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Quantum annealing leverages quantum tunneling for non-local searches, thereby minimizing memory effects that typically arise from metastabilities. Nonetheless, recent work has demonstrated robust hysteresis in large-scale transverse-field Ising systems implemented on D-Wave's analog quantum hardware. The quantum nature of these intriguing results remains to be understood at a deeper level. Here, we present a conceptual framework that explains the observed behavior by combining two-level Landau-Zener transitions via a first-order piecewise-constant propagator with semiclassical domain-wall kinetics. We test this approach experimentally on a quantum annealer, where we observe clear coercivity even in one-dimensional rings with periodic boundary conditions comprising up to 4,906 qubits-regimes where classical hysteresis is forbidden, but quantum hysteresis is not. Our framework reproduces the measured kink densities, hysteresis loop shapes, and longitudinal sweep-rate scaling trends observed in data from three different D-Wave quantum annealers. In particular, it captures striking non-monotonic features and transiently negative susceptibilities, identifying them as genuine quantum memory effects. These results establish programmable quantum annealers as powerful testbeds for exploring memory-endowed non-equilibrium dynamics in quantum many-body systems.

Related papers

• Universal quantum melting of quasiperiodic attractors in driven-dissipative cavities [0.0]
  We develop a quantum description of limit tori within the Lindblad master-equation formalism.<n>We analyze the system across the quantum-to-classical transition.<n>Our results establish the quantum melting of limit tori as a distinct non-equilibrium critical phenomenon.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-07-04T18:26:04Z)
• Magnetic Hysteresis Experiments Performed on Quantum Annealers [0.7499722271664147]
  We present the first general protocol to experiment on magnetic tunneling on programmable quantum annealers.<n>We observe loops whose area depends non-monotonically on quantum fluctuations, exhibiting both expected and unexpected features.<n>Our work establishes quantum annealers as a platform for probing non-induced emergent magnetic phenomena.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-06-20T18:28:16Z)
• Attractive-repulsive interaction in coupled quantum oscillators [14.37149160708975]
  We find an interesting symmetry-breaking transition from quantum limit cycle oscillation to quantum inhomogeneous steady state. This transition is contrary to the previously known symmetry-breaking transition from quantum homogeneous to inhomogeneous steady state. Remarkably, we find the generation of entanglement associated with the symmetry-breaking transition that has no analogue in the classical domain.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-08-23T10:45:19Z)
• Thermalization and Criticality on an Analog-Digital Quantum Simulator [133.58336306417294]
  We present a quantum simulator comprising 69 superconducting qubits which supports both universal quantum gates and high-fidelity analog evolution. We observe signatures of the classical Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, as well as strong deviations from Kibble-Zurek scaling predictions. We digitally prepare the system in pairwise-entangled dimer states and image the transport of energy and vorticity during thermalization.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-05-27T17:40:39Z)
• Hysteresis and Self-Oscillations in an Artificial Memristive Quantum Neuron [79.16635054977068]
  We study an artificial neuron circuit containing a quantum memristor in the presence of relaxation and dephasing. We demonstrate that this physical principle enables hysteretic behavior of the current-voltage characteristics of the quantum device.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-05-01T16:47:23Z)
• Quantum reservoir probing of quantum phase transitions [0.0]
  We show that quantum phase transitions can be detected through localized out-of-equilibrium excitations induced by local quantum quenches.<n>The impacts of the local quenches vary across different quantum phases and are significantly suppressed by quantum fluctuations amplified near quantum critical points.<n>We demonstrate that the QRP can detect quantum phase transitions in the paradigmatic integrable and nonintegrable quantum spin systems, and even topological quantum phase transitions.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-02-11T03:53:01Z)
• Quantum data learning for quantum simulations in high-energy physics [55.41644538483948]
  We explore the applicability of quantum-data learning to practical problems in high-energy physics. We make use of ansatz based on quantum convolutional neural networks and numerically show that it is capable of recognizing quantum phases of ground states. The observation of non-trivial learning properties demonstrated in these benchmarks will motivate further exploration of the quantum-data learning architecture in high-energy physics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-06-29T18:00:01Z)
• Universality of critical dynamics with finite entanglement [68.8204255655161]
  We study how low-energy dynamics of quantum systems near criticality are modified by finite entanglement. Our result establishes the precise role played by entanglement in time-dependent critical phenomena.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-01-23T19:23:54Z)
• Entanglement measures for two-particle quantum histories [0.0]
  We prove that bipartite quantum histories are entangled if and only if the Schmidt rank of this matrix is larger than 1. We then illustrate the non-classical nature of entangled histories with the use of Hardy's overlapping interferometers.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-12-14T20:48:36Z)
• Simulating Chern insulators on a superconducting quantum processor [24.532662078542266]
  We experimentally demonstrate three types of Chern insulators with synthetic dimensions on a programable 30-qubit-ladder superconducting processor. Our work shows the potential of using superconducting qubits for investigating different intriguing topological phases of quantum matter.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-07-24T19:28:23Z)
• Information Scrambling in Computationally Complex Quantum Circuits [56.22772134614514]
  We experimentally investigate the dynamics of quantum scrambling on a 53-qubit quantum processor. We show that while operator spreading is captured by an efficient classical model, operator entanglement requires exponentially scaled computational resources to simulate.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-01-21T22:18:49Z)
• Unraveling the topology of dissipative quantum systems [58.720142291102135]
  We discuss topology in dissipative quantum systems from the perspective of quantum trajectories. We show for a broad family of translation-invariant collapse models that the set of dark state-inducing Hamiltonians imposes a nontrivial topological structure on the space of Hamiltonians.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-07-12T11:26:02Z)
• Probing the Universality of Topological Defect Formation in a Quantum Annealer: Kibble-Zurek Mechanism and Beyond [46.39654665163597]
  We report on experimental tests of topological defect formation via the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model. We find that the quantum simulator results can indeed be explained by the KZM for open-system quantum dynamics with phase-flip errors. This implies that the theoretical predictions of the generalized KZM theory, which assumes isolation from the environment, applies beyond its original scope to an open system.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-01-31T02:55:35Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.